A Shot in the Dark
by OXBastetXO
Summary: (Complete)Things get a little complicated when the Team finds out just how much danger a little kiss can bring, but then, the kiss did come from "Black Widow" Carter.
1. Shooting the Bull

Title: Shooting the Bull

Author: OXBastetXO  
  
Archive: Please ask first  
  
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis  
  
Category: Humor/HC/Adventure/Drama  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Summary: Things get a little complicated when the Team finds out just how much danger a little kiss can bring, but then, the kiss did come from "Black Widow" Carter. ;-)  
  
Warnings: None.  
  
Spoilers: SG-1 seasons 1-8; SGA "Childhood's End"  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, Sci-Fi, MGM, and Gecko do. Just borrowing them for a while. I promise to give them back when I'm done, though I might keep McKay a little longer. ;-)  
  
Author's notes: This just spontaneously happened in an email. Hope it makes you smile.

* * *

**Shooting the Bull  
by  
OXBastetXO**

* * *

Chapter One: Shooting the Bull

Major John Sheppherd and Lieutenant Aiden Ford sat in the cockpit of Puddle Jumper one doing some maintenance when Shepherd glanced over at Ford and asked offhandedly. "So, you know this Colonel Carter."  
  
The young man looked over at him. "I've met her. She's part of SG-1. Served under General O'Neill and is now the CO of the team."  
  
"You ever heard anything about her and McKay?"  
  
Ford gave him an indignant look. "McKay's still alive, isn't he? Come one, we're talking about 'Black Widow Carter'. Every man she's ever kissed has ended up dead."  
  
Sheppherd gave him a shocked look. "Every man?"  
  
"Every man," Ford repeated. "I mean, first there was this Jonas guy, not the alien dude that was on SG-1 for a while, but this Air Force Major. He and Carter dated back before they both ended up at the SGC. He went crazy on some planet and killed his team and then got killed himself. Then there was this Narem guy, alien. He and Carter kissed and he and his whole planet got blown up by the Goa'uld. Then there was the Tok'Ra guy, Martoof. Went all crazy and they had to shoot him, from what I heard, Colonel Carter had to shoot him before he blew up the SGC. There was this other guy that just totally disappeared and then this Ascended guy who did something and got himself descended like Doctor Jackson did and he--"  
  
"Okay, okay. I get the point," Sheppherd said interrupting him. He let out a low whistle. "So I guess that's a no on McKay and her."


	2. Shooting the Breeze

Chapter Two: Shooting the Breeze

Teyla Emmegan stood quietly smiling a little as she watched Major John Sheppard watching Dr. Rodney McKay. The scientist was bounding around like a child through a clearing where what appeared to be an Ancient ruin once stood. He exclaimed excitedly as he moved from one mound of rubble to the next. Major Sheppard stood glaring at the man, holding his weapon at the ready as if waiting for something to drop from the sky and smash the other man.  
  
She walked up to Sheppard. "Is there something we should be on guard for, Major?" she asked.  
  
Sheppard jerked in surprised and quickly raised his gun which was currently pointed at the distracted McKay.  
  
"Teyla ! Uh, huh, what?" he tried his best to look cool, but failed badly.  
  
Teyla tried to hide her smile and replied. "I merely inquired if there was some unknown danger for which we should be on guard."  
  
Sheppard gave her a sheepish smile. "Not really." He chuckled. "Sorry, I guess I let a little story Ford told me, get the better of me."  
  
Teyla cocked her head. "A story of your people?"  
  
The Major laughed a little self consciously. "I guess you could call it that."  
  
"Perhaps you would share it with me. Doctor McKay seems quite taken with this place even if there is not much left of the settlement the Ancients once held here." She gestured to two large boulders just right for sitting on and keeping an eye on the wandering scientist.  
  
Sheppard shrugged and shouldered his weapon and sat down beside her, pausing a moment to glance in the direction Ford had gone to set up a perimeter.  
  
"So what is this story?" she asked.  
  
"Actually, it's more of a rumor than a story," he said a bit guiltily. "You know this Colonel Carter woman that McKay keeps talking about."  
  
She nodded. "Doctor McKay seems very fond of her. He appears to miss her a great deal. Was she his betrothed?"  
  
Sheppard almost choked on his question. "Betrothed, I don't think so." He laughed and then told her of the supposed 'Carter Curse'.  
  
Teyla listened with growing alarm. "I have heard of such things among the peoples we have traded with," she said once he had finished. "Is Doctor McKay aware of his danger?"  
  
Sheppard snorted. "Are you kidding?" He shook his head and looked at her. "And it's just a rumor."  
  
A startled shout jerked them both around and they looked over to where McKay had been working his way through the ruins, but the physicist was gone.  
  
"Oh, just great," Sheppard groaned under his breath.


	3. Two for the price of One

Shooting the Wad

By

OXBastetXO

Lieutenant Aiden Ford made his way cautiously through the world the scientist back at the Atlantis base had dubbed P3X-727. He paused a moment to swat at a gnat flying around his face. This world looked just like the three worlds they had 'gated to in the last couple weeks. He was starting to wonder if the Major just wasn't 'gating them back to the same boring world and just flying the puddle jumper off in a different direction. Ford wouldn't put it past the Major considering their luck on the last couple missions and then there was McKay and the curse. He wasn't much for superstition, but his grandma had some stories...  
  
A startled shout whirled him around the way he had come.  
  
"McKay! McKay, answer me," the Major demanded over the radio, followed by a muffled, "Crap!"  
  
Ford reached for the radio just as Sheppard barked his name.  
  
"Yes, sir," he responded already turning to sprint back to where he had left the others at the Ancient's ruins.  
  
"You better get back here. We've lost McKay."  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"Something's happened to McKay. Teyla and I are looking for him. I want you to get back here and get the Puddle Jumper prepped for launch."  
  
"Yes, sir," Ford said, springing forward, running back to where he had left the others.  
  
Panting, he reached the clearing to find the Major and Teyla standing over a pretty good-sized hole. Major Sheppard shown in flashlight down into it, but they couldn't see much in the murky darkness. He looked up as Ford approached.  
  
"Watch where you're walking, this place is riddled with sink holes," the older man warned him.  
  
"Doctor McKay?" he asked, his eyes widening.  
  
"We think he may have fallen into here," Teyla told him, inching closer to the hole. The ground under her feet started to crumble and Sheppard grabbed her pulling her back.  
  
"Back," Sheppard ordered, as they scrambled for better footing. The Major swore in frustration.  
  
They moved back to more stable ground. Ford frowned. "Are you sure he's in there?"  
  
"Well, he didn't get scooped up by a Wraith ship or we would have seen. He was headed in this direction before he disappeared," Sheppard told him.  
  
"If he fell down in there--" Ford shot Sheppard a look.  
  
"I know," he said tightly. "We need the rappelling gear from the Puddle Jumper. There is no way we can get close enough to that hole to get a good look without falling in it ourselves and if McKay's in there, we're liable to crush him if we all go stomping around caving that thing in on him." He paused a moment eyeing a large gnarled tree beside the edge of the hole and a broad limb spreading out over it. "We can hook it up over that," he said pointing, "and drop down without collapsing this whole area in."  
  
Ford nodded, hurrying back to the Puddle Jumper to get the gear. He found the box with the gear in and grabbed it hustling back to find Major Sheppard and Teyla arguing.  
  
"I am lighter. You would be able to lower me in more easily," Teyla was saying.  
  
Sheppard frowned. "I know, but you won't be able to haul yourself and McKay up out of there if something happens up here."  
  
"Major?"   
  
"I do not think it would be wise for Major Sheppard to lower himself into the hole," Teyla informed him.  
  
"I'm not going to argue with you," Sheppard said, taking the gear from him.  
  
"Major," Ford said, locking eyes with him and not letting go of the case. "With all due respect, she's got a point. If something happens, you're the only one who can fly the Puddle Jumper back to the 'gate. You and McKay are the only ones with the Ancient Gene and he's down there," he said, nodding to the hole.  
  
Sheppard growled, but let go of the box with a nod. "Point made."  
  
The younger man nodded and dug the gear out of the box, slipping into the climbing harness as Sheppard and Teyla secured the rope over the branch. Sheppard gave a tug on the branch making sure it would hold his weight before securing the rope on one another tree a short distance away. Teyla took a position behind Sheppard as he slid on a pair of gloves to handle the rope.   
  
"Quick down and up, Lieutenant. Just see if McKay is down there and what condition he's in if he is. We'll get Beckett and a team back here before we move him if he's injured." Concern pinched the corners of Sheppard's eyes. It had to be bad if they hadn't heard anything from McKay yet. The man would squawk like he was dying if he got a hangnail.  
  
"Yes, sir," Ford said, clipping himself to the end of the rope and nodded he was ready.  
  
Sheppard looped the rope around one of the boulders protruding up from the ruins and he and Teyla grabbed the rope, lifting Ford off his feet and swinging him out over the opening. They began to slowly lower him down as Ford played his flashlight down into the darkness.  
  
His head had just slipped from view when he called out. "I see him, Major. He looks pretty banged up. If you just--"  
  
A loud crack and the sound of rending wood drowned out the rest of what he said as the limb the rope was looped over snapped off sending him plunging into the hole.  
  
Sheppard quickly wrapped the rope a couple times around his arm, but the rope sang as it slashed though the fabric of his BDU sleeve and flesh of his arm. He hissed as he and Teyla tried to slow Ford's fall, but suddenly, the rope went loose.  
  
"Oh, this is so not happening," Sheppard said, staring at the blood stained rope.


	4. Down in the Dark

Down in the Dark

By

OXBastetXO

* * *

Pain.

Darkness.

He was dead and this was hell.

Or he had just fainted again, which could be just as bad. He could already imagine the smug smirk on Sheppard's face.

Doctor Rodney McKay groaned and tried to move. Pain exploded through his head and back setting off a dizzying kaleidoscope of colors behind his eyes. He watched the light show in weary fascination, trying to ignore the sick feeling it gave him in the pit of his stomach. It was just like what he thought would happen with the nuclear device he had made for the six grade science fair, had he been able to get a hold of the Uranium235 that would have made it viable. Not that he would have actually detonated it, but at the moment, that would be preferable to the thundering in his head.

"Doctor McKay? Doctor McKay, are you alright?"

Ford's concerned voice sliced like a laser though the pain only serving to aggravate it and his mood.  
  
"Go away," he groaned through clenched teeth. He vaguely noted how hoarse and weak his voice sounded. Something tickled in his chest and he started to cough, the movement setting off new explosions of agony through parts of his body that hadn't reported in yet and he moaned in respond, trying to get them to shut up again. If they didn't have good news, they shouldn't have said anything at all.

"Doctor McKay, are you okay?" Ford asked again, followed by what sounded like someone dragging something across the ground.

"No, I'm—"he groaned, the words sticking a moment as something hitched in his chest again. Everything got fuzzy and it almost seemed as if time was stretching.

Did they get caught in some kind of special anomaly? He really couldn't remember how they had gotten there. He remembered the Puddle Jumper coming through the Stargate and them flying over some ruins and landing and then—He shook his head and instantly regretted it. Something buzzed in his ears again and he felt a hand touch his forehead. The hand felt warm, which was nice because he felt like he had been caught outside the Antarctica base.

"He's coming around again, Major," he heard a voice he finally recognized as Ford's say. "He's got a pretty bad concussion and looks like a couple broken ribs from what I can tell."

"Okay, Teyla's going to stay here and keep in radio contact with you while I head back to the 'gate to contact Weir and get Beckett and a team back here to extract you. How are you holding up?"

"My leg's pretty badly busted up, but I've got it splinted for now. We do need the first aid kit down here though."

"I'll send it down before I leave."

"Down...here?" McKay said, frowning in concentration. He had already tried to say this before but the words just wouldn't come out his mouth when he wanted them too. This was decidedly odd. He probably should be worried about it, but right now his head hurt too much to think let alone worry and he was tired beyond the point of caring at the moment.

"Doctor McKay, hey," Ford said, gently shaking him. "How are you feeling?"

The question took him a moment to process and then to assess himself before answering.

Ford shook him again. "Doctor McKay, come on now. Wake up and talk to me."

He groaned. "Tired.... head...hurts," he managed to put the words together enough to get them out. Yes, his head hurt. It felt like it was going to freaking explode and if Ford didn't stop shaking him he was going to hit him!

"You've got a concussion. You just need to lay still. Major Sheppard's going to get us out of here. Can you open your eyes?"

McKay frowned. Open his eyes? That would explain why it was so dark. He thought a moment, trying to remember exactly how to do that. Ford shook him impatiently again. He grunted and his eyes struggled open and then snapped back shut with a groan as light bore straight into his skull.

He swung at the offending light and a hand caught his hand with surprising ease. "Whoa, hold on," Ford said. "Take it easy. I just need to check you eyes a minute and then you can rest for a bit."

"Why?" It came out petulant, but he didn't care. He didn't want that light in his eyes again. The dull, raging thump in his head was much better than that the sharp, burning pain that the light created.

Ford gave an impatient sigh. "Because I need to see how your pupils react to the light."

Vaguely, he remembered that was somehow important about a concussion. With an unhappy groan he complied and Ford promptly show the light in his eyes again and it took everything McKay had not to hit the younger man and he quickly clamped his eyes shut again.

"Yeah, they're equal, but really sluggish and he's not very coherent."

Rodney frowned at the concerned tone in Ford's voice and realized he must have dozed off again. He slitted his eyes open to look at the young solder.

The light didn't seem to hurt as much as before, but then Ford wasn't shining it directly into his eyes now. The Lieutenant's BDUs were torn and covered in dirt nearly as dark as young Lieutenant's skin. Smears of what McKay thought that may be blood darkened areas.

Sheppard's voice crackled back over his radio. "I'll tell Beckett. Keep him still and try to keep him awake if you can. I'll get them back here as quickly as possible." There was a pause. "How are you holding up?"

"Leg hurts like a—"he caught himself. "It hurts a lot, but the morphine is taking the edge off of it."

"Teyla will keep talking to you to keep you awake."

"Yes, sir," he said, lowering the radio with a tired sigh. He looked over at McKay and smiled. "Hey, Doc."

Rodney blinked slowly. "You look awful," he said, frowning as the words came out badly slurred.

Ford chuckled. "You don't look so good yourself."

A dull thump sounded overhead and dirt rained down on them. Rodney grimaced as it fell on his face.

The radio crackled to life again. "Ford, we're pinned down," Sheppard shouted, through the sound of weapons fire.

The young man grabbed for the radio. "Sir, what's going on?"

"This just isn't my day," Sheppard said and then the transmission dissolved into the hiss of static.


	5. One If By Land

Sheppard dove to the ground as another round of gunfire chewed through the trees around him. He crawled forward on his belly to where he could get a good look at what was firing at them.

Men in rustic looking clothes pointed what looked like some kind of flintlock weapon in their direction. Plumes of white smoke drifted up as they fired. Several more bullets ripped through the leaves on the tree above them.

"One if by land and two if by sea," he mumbled under his breath.

"Major?" Teyla gave him a confused look.

He grimaced. "Sorry. They just remind me of battle reenactments they do back home of the war when our country's won it's independence over two hundred years ago."

She didn't look like she really understood, but she nodded. "Their weapons are very primitive in comparison to your own, but I can assure you they are quite deadly."

"Yeah, dead's dead," Sheppard said, pulling out his binoculars and trying to get a better look at them. He frowned. "Any idea what's got them so pissed off?"

"I do not know," she answered. "Perhaps this is some sort of holy place for them."

Sheppard focused on the one of the men in the front line. He was laughing and smiling at the man beside him. "They look like they're at some kind of turkey shoot."

"What is a turkey?"

A whistling sound whined overhead and Sheppard jerked the binoculars up. "Incoming," he said, grabbed Telya's sleeve and pulling her after him as they scrambled back into the cover of some trees.

A cannon ball crashed just to the left of where they had been hiding and the ground around it crumpled in the impact and another sinkhole appeared.

"This place must be completely hollowed out under us," Sheppard said, reaching for his radio and keying it. "Ford? Ford, are you there?"

The radio crackled a moment and then the pain voice of his junior officer came on. "Major, what the heck is going on up there? This place is coming down on us!"

Sheppard swore. "How bad is it?"

"I got us back away from the main part of the cavern, but I don't want to move Doctor McKay any more. He's not doing so good."

"How bad?"

"He keeps throwing up."  
  
Sheppard frowned and the spoke back into the radio. "That's the head injury. We'll do what we can from up here, but we're cut off from the Puddle Jumper."

"I don't want to sound impatient, but—"

"I got you, Lieutenant. Just try to hold on."

"Yes, sir."

Sheppard huffed in frustration and glanced at Teyla. "We've got to get to the ship." He shouldered his P90. "I really don't want to shoot these guys, but I am not leaving people behind." Again, he added silently to himself.

They edged forward, keeping low. Teyla grabbed the edge of his sleeve, tugging on it. He turned to look and sucked in a breath at what he saw. Perched in the branches above them was a crude model of a Wraith Dart.

"They aren't pissed at us—"he started to say when the shrill whistle of another cannon ball cut him off. Teyla tacked him knocking him out of the way, but not before the next round of musket balls riddled the trees and he felt something tear through his arm.

"Oh, crap!"


	6. Two If By Chance

Just a quick thank you for all the great feed back..trying to get this written as quickly as I can...enjoy!!!

Smile!

* * *

Teyla dragged Sheppard back through the bushes and away from the model dart that the natives seemed to be using for target practice. The Earthman swore and used a few words she had not heard from them before, but she did not believe these were ones that bore repeating.

She quickly checked him over. The musket ball had gone through his arm, a clean in and out wound. It bled copiously, but once the bleeding was stopped, it would heal quickly.

"Son of a—" Sheppard hissed as she applied pressure to the wound. "Are you okay?" he asked her tightly.

"I am fine," she said, reaching to dig in his pack for something to bind the wound with. They had sent the first aid kit from the Puddle Jumper and most of the contents of their personal kits down to Lieutenant Ford for he and Doctor McKay.

Sheppard shoved her down as another cannon ball whistled through the air over their heads.

"This is madness," Teyla growled, pulling herself out from under the

Major. She remembered the man kept a cloth for wiping his nose in his back pocket and she reached around him shoving her hand into the hip pocket to look for it.

"Hey? Whoa, Teyla," Sheppard cried in startled protest. "I mean it's flattering and all, but I don't think right now is the best time to-"

Her searching fingers latched on to the bit of cloth and she glared at him as she jerked it out of his pocket. It didn't matter what planet they were from men were still men.

"Ow!" Sheppard protested as she cinched the cloth over the wound just a little tighter than was actually necessary, but he did have the good graces to a bit abashed.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

She checking to make sure the bleeding was slowing. She nodded in satisfaction that it was.

Another cannonball sailed in to smash into part of a ruined wall causing it and the ground under it to collapse.

"We must stop them. Lieutenant Ford and Doctor McKay will surely be crushed if this goes on for much longer," she said, moving to get a better look at the line of men facing them from across the open ground.

"Well, if you got any ideas of how to stop them, I'm listening," Sheppard told her.

Teyla considered a moment and then got to her feet.  
  
"Teyla?" Sheppard said, frowning, struggling to rise.

"Stay," she told him, creeping forward.

"'Stay'?" he repeated incredulously. "What am I, a dog? Where are you going?"

Teyla ignored him and got to position she could get a clear view of the native men. She took a deep breath and stood up, waving her arms.

"Stop!" she shouted to them. "Stop shooting!"

One of the men in the center of the group saw her and quick drew the attention of the others. Teyla braced ready to duck back into cover if they started shooting again, but they didn't.

Several from the center of the group started forward. A dark haired older man and two young men who looked to be barely out of their teens.

"Ho, there!" one of the older men shouted back. "What are you doing here? You could have gotten killed!"

"We are travelers," she said quickly, hearing Sheppard coming up behind her. "I am Teyla Emmagan and this is Major John Sheppard," she said, turning to glance at Sheppard.

The Earthman came up beside her, his P90 held loosely in the hand of his uninjured arm.

The older man's eyes widened as he saw Sheppard join her. "Oh, by all that is holy. We did not know that you had stumbled into the 'forbidden cove'. Did you not see the signs of warning?"

"No, we didn't," Sheppard told him.

"I am Celib and this is Micha and Aron," he said, motion to the two young men that had come with him. He turned to the one. "Micha, tell the others to stop and what has happened."

The young man nodded and ran off toward the others.

"How badly are you injured?" Celib said, coming toward Sheppard. "You do not know how upsetting this is. Nothing like this has happened in many years."

"I'll be fine," Sheppard said, easing his grip on his weapon and letting it hang down at his side. "But we've got two men down in the caverns below the ruins and we need to get them out."

"The Pit?" Aron stared at them in wide eyed wonder.

"I guess you could call it that," Sheppard said hesitantly. "McKay was exploring the ruins when the ground opened up under him and he fell in. Ford went down after him."

"This is most grave," Calib said, his brows knitting up in concern. "I am afraid they are lost. None has ever come out of the Pit once they have fallen in. If the fall itself did not kill them, the demon that lives in the Pit soon will. I am very sorry."

"Demon?" Teyla repeated, shooting a look at Sheppard.

"Yes," Calib said, pointing up at the model of the Wraith Dart. "The Demon that fell from the sky in an air wagon such as that."

"This day couldn't get any better if it tried," Sheppard groaned, scrubbing a hand across his face.


	7. Devil in the Dark

Ford head snapped up with a jerked and then he groaned as the movement jostled his leg sending sharp reminders of he broken bone to the rest of his body. He said a few choice words that, had his grandma been here, would have gotten his mouth washed out with soap, but since she wasn't here, he let them fly.

He sat there a moment trying to figure out just where he was. Slowly, his brain started to process things. They were on P3X-something or other. He had gone down in a hole to get Doctor McKay--

Doctor McKay!

He shifted around to get a better look at the injured scientist. McKay lay where he had left him. He had managed to drag him back in this side tunnel when the rest of the cavern had decided to fall in on them earlier. McKay hadn't done very well with the move and did a lot of dry heaving. Anything he had to come up had when Ford had tried to help him sit up after he found him. Anything other than horizontal was not a good idea for the man right now.

He brushed at some of the dried blood caked on the left side of McKay's face. He checked the bandage he had wound around the scientist's head to stanch the worst of the bleeding from his head wound. The skin underneath was a pasty shade of grey that white men just usually weren't. He thought about trying to wash a little of the blood off, but he didn't want to waste much of the meager water supply they had. Despite what Major Sheppard said, he had a bad feeling they were going to be down there a while.

Ford shifted a little closer, hissing in pain as the movement jarred his injured leg and rested a hand on McKay's chest. He was breathing regular, but very shallow, probably from the broken ribs. Ford gripped the scientist shoulder. "Doctor McKay?" He shook him a little. "Doctor McKay, wake up."

McKay moaned, but didn't open his eyes.

"Come on, Doctor McKay." He paused. "Rodney, I need you to wake up now."

The older man let out a moan and mumbled, "M'wake."

"Open your eyes," Ford told him.

"Conserving energy," he said very softly, his words not quite as slurred as the last time he was awake.

Ford chuckled and gave him another gentle shake. "Very funny, Doctor McKay. Open you eyes."

McKay responded with an uncoordinated swat in his general direction. "Go away," he said groaning.

"Come on, Doctor McKay. You need to stay awake. You've got a concussion," Ford told him a little more forcefully. "Open your eyes."

McKay gave a disgruntled moan and opened his eyes, but they only stayed open for a moment and then shut his eyes again. "Done," he announced in a smug voice.

Ford let out an exasperated groan of his own. "I should just let you die, "he grumbled under his breath.

That seemed to get his attention and his eyes struggled back open. "'m awake," he said, trying to sound more alert than he was actually capable of being at the moment.

He squinted a little near-sightly at Ford. "You don't look so good."

Ford gave him a crooked smile. "You said that the last time you woke up."

McKay frowned. "I did?"

"You did. Do you know where you are?" he asked him.

He looked around a little with a lost look on his face. "A cave?"

Ford frowned, the Doc was making less and less sense and he didn't think that was a good sign. "Doc, who's the president?"

McKay frowned deeply. "President of what?"

"The United States," Ford responded in concern.

McKay thought for a long moment. "Isn't it that Clint...no...you had another election...that guy from Texas...or something."

Ford's frown deepened. "What's the National anthem?"

The Scientist smiled and his eyes started to slide shut again. "Oh, Canada."

Ford looked at him a moment and then at the Maple Leaf patch on his shoulder and groaned. "You're Canadian," he said in exasperation. Of course, Canada and then all that time at Antarctica. He probably didn't keep up with American politics.

McKay grunted in agreement.

"Hey, no sleeping," Ford said, giving the other man a little shake.

He shifted, his face tightening in pain and mumbled something that sounded like "just five more minutes."

"No, can do, Doctor McKay. You've got a head injury and you've got to stay awake."

"Why?" he asked petulantly.

Ford opened his mouth to answer and he really didn't know why. It was just what you did when someone had a concussion. "Because you might die," he lied or at least hoped he was lying.

Very uncharacteristically, McKay just sighed and his eyes struggled open again and he frowned deeply, looking over at Ford. "Where are we?"

"In a cave," Ford told him with a sigh. They had gone through this every time McKay woke up.

"Why?"

"Because we fell in."

"That was dumb."

"Yeah," he said agreed, reaching for his radio. He keyed it. "Ford to Sheppard."

"Sheppard here. How ya are you two doing?"

"Are you going to be much longer, Major?"

"We're at the Puddle Jumper now. How's McKay?"

"Confused and I'm having trouble keeping him awake." He looked over at the man in question, giving him a shake.

McKay groaned in pain and gave him a dirty look a moment before his eyes started sagging shut again.

"Do what you can. How are you holding up?"

Ford sighed. He felt like crap. "I'll live, sir."

"You keep doing that," Sheppard grunted and Ford thought he could hear the whine of the Puddle Jumper's engines starting.

"Sir, what about the natives?"

"Teyla's working on straightening that out." There was a pause. "You guys hear anything down there?"

"No sir, just things settling," he answered. He heard a cascade of pebbles off to his left and McKay looked over in that direction.

"Good," Sheppard said. "Keep you eyes open. Calib, one of the elders, said there's a legend about something living down there."

"Something, sir?"

"Just keep you eyes open, Lieutenant."

He sighed and then answered. "Yes, sir."

"Just hang in there, Ford. I'll be back shortly with Beckett and some help."

"Yes, sir."

"Sheppard, out."

"Ford, out."

He looked back over at McKay and he was staring intently into the darkness. He slowly turned his head back toward him. "That's not supposed to be there, is it?" he asked.

"What?" Ford looked over to where McKay had been staring so intently and a pair of silver eyes stared back at him.


	8. Home Fires

Doctor Elizabeth Weir sat in her office pouring over the latest set of figures and predictions of what they were going to start needing in the not so distant future.

So far the desalinization and purification units they had brought from Earth were handling their water needs and Broden's team had found an ancient's device that seemed to do that as well and they were working on getting it to run off the power from the naquada generators.

Food was their biggest concern at the moment. The supplies of MREs and other canned goods were continuing to dwindle. They had made some successful barters for foodstuffs on a few planets but they had also had started making enemies in the process. There recent disastrous contact with the Genarii was just proof again that they were the intruders in this galaxy.

Exploration was the human credo, but at what expense? They had already altered the fates of how many races now. The Wraith had been awakened nearly a generation early. The Athosian had been forced to flee their planet. It could be argued that the Hoffren had brought about their own fate, but if not for them it would not have been so soon. And the young man, Keras, and his people, they had not been attacked by the Wraith for over 500 years, until they had arrived.

She sighed and rubbed her tired eyes.

But in all fairness, the Wraith were the native threat and they had help several races that on their own wouldn't have had a fighting chance against the Wraith. The alliance with the Athosian had given them a friend in this new galaxy and given the Athosian a new home with protection from the Wraith. Keras' people would live a full life and live to see their children grow. There were many others they had been able to help with medicines and aid.

Not an ideal situation but for now the good was out weighing the bad.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the 'gate room technician. "Doctor Weir, we've got an off-world activation. It's Major Sheppard's team."

"I'm on my way," she said, saving the file she had been working on and snapping the laptop closed.

She hurried out to the control room just as the stargate blossomed to life.

They waited for the request to deactivate the force field on the 'gate.

Finally, the radio crackled. "Sheppard to Atlantis base."

"Atlantis base, Major. Are you and your team ready to come back?"

There was a pause. "Negative, Atlantis. We're going to need Doctor Beckett.

There's been an accident. McKay and Ford are injured and are going to need to medevaced out and," he paused again, "and I've been shot."

Elizabeth held her breath a moment. "Major, you've been shot?"

"Yup."

Weir motioned for the technician to get Beckett up there. "How badly, Major?"

"Just a flesh wound," he drawled. "Clean shot though the arm. Teyla patched me up and the worst of the bleeding's stopped, but McKay's got a pretty serious concussion and several broken ribs and Ford's got a broken leg."

"Major, what happened?" she asked, her brows furrowing in alarm.

"McKay was poking around some ruins we found and ground collapsed under him, whole place was over a cavern system." He cleared his throat and said a bit sheepishly, "Ford was going down to get him and the tree limb we had the rope over to get him in to position to lower him down snapped off."

Beckett came up behind Elizabeth and slipped a headset on. He tapped it and asked, "Major, how far was the drop?"

"McKay, a good twenty feet, Ford maybe ten to fifteen feet."

The Doctor gave her a pained expression. "Were you able to assess their conditions?"

"McKay's not real coherent. Ford's been trying to keep him awake. He had to move him a couple times because of minor cave-ins. Ford said he's breathing kind of shallow, but pulse is regular and steady. Ford said he's holding in there. We went down the Puddle Jumper's medical kit down to them."

"And you, Major?" She turned to Beckett. "He said he was shot in the arm."

Beckett closed his eyes and groaned. "I don't believe this." Then he called out. "Major, what's your condition?"

Sheppard made a sound something between a snort and groan. "Clean through and through shot to the upper arm. No major blood vessels or bones involved," he told them. "Hurts like a—"he caught himself. "It hurts and the arm is getting stiff, but most of the bleeding has stopped. We need to get a move on and get back for McKay and Ford, Doctors."

"I'll get a team ready in ten minutes," Beckett said with a pained expression. As much as he despised 'gate travel, he had patients and friends waiting for him. He hurried quickly out of the command center and then broke into a run towards the nearest 'transporter'.

"Major, Doctor Beckett will have a team ready to come through the 'gate in ten minutes."

Sheppard sighed wearily. "Thanks, Atlantis."

"Just hold in there, Major," she told him.

"Will do, Sheppard out," he said and the 'gate disengaged.

The technician got ready to dial it again and Elizabeth closed her eyes a moment, gathering herself. She wondered out General Hammand had done this for so many years and now General O'Neill. How could do you keep sending people, friends, out there when you know they come back injured or, in fact, never come back.

She sighed and opened her eyes, steeling herself. Those were questions for later, now John, Rodney, Teyla and Aiden needed them to come get them and that they would.


	9. Down the Rabbit Hole

This is in answer to the Monty Python challange on sgafic. Hee hee.

Thanks for all the great feed back...we'll get back into the hole....soon. ;-)

* * *

Carson Beckett hurriedly stuffed supplies into his medical bag. Head trauma, broken bones, who know what kind of internal injures. John and Rodney spent more time in his infirmary than anyone else in the base combined.

"What do you need us to get, Doc?" Stackhouse asked. He and Bates stared at the piles of gear Carson's people had gathered.

"Get both of the back boards and the cervical collar. We're going to have to immobilize McKay to get him out of that hole."

He took one last glance around then checked his watch. Eight minutes, not bad. He zipped the medical bag shut and then slung the strap over his shoulder and grabbed a second bag and handed it one of junior medical staff, Burns. He took a moment to adjust the weight of his load and then nodded to the others. "Let's go."

They hurried to get back to the 'gate room.

Carson eyed the stargate warily. He didn't care how safe Rodney kept telling him it was nor the fact that humans had been traveling back and forth between planets for thousands of years, he still didn't like going through the bloody thing. It chilled you to the bone in under a second and shot you out so hard that you were lucky you didn't kill yourself flying out the other end and that wasn't even getting into how it broke you down to the molecular level and then converted everything to energy. How did you know if you were really you when you tumbled out on the other side?  
  
Stackhouse tapped his arm. "You ready, Doctor Beckett?"  
  
Carson looked at him and then realized the wormhole had opened while he was thinking.  
  
He nodded, took a deep breath and muttered to himself. "'One may survive distress, but not disgrace'," he said heading toward the 'gate.

Stackhouse turned toward the command balcony. "Ready, Doctor Weir," he told her.

She nodded. "Bring them back."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, with a salute.

Carson looked up at her. "We'll get them back, Elizabeth."

She gave him a brief smile. "Good luck."

Carson followed Stackhouse to the 'gate and then paused a moment as the other man vanished through the event horizon. He took a deep breath and then remembered and let it back out before he stepped through.

Cold slammed through him and he stumbled to keep his feet under him as he reached the other side. Burns caught his arm to help him keep on his feet. He shifted the bag slung over his shoulder as he caught his breath.

"I hate doing that," he grumbled.

Burns just smiled at him. "You'll get use to it."

Carson gave him a withering glare.

"Doctor Beckett," Sheppard called, slowly standing up from where he had been seated at the open door of the Puddle Jumper. He clutched his left arm gingerly against his chest as he started toward them.

Carson's mind suddenly kicked into physician mode and he hurried to meet the man. "Major, how are you doing? Let me see your arm," he said, opening his bag as he walked.

"I've had worse," Sheppard said, letting him check over the bandaging job

Teyla had done a passable job with what was at hand. Carson looked at him. "The wound needed cleaned and properly bandage, but this will hold until we can get you back to the base."

Sheppard nodded. "Just so long as you don't decide to go and amputate things."

Carson smiled. "Not quite yet." His smile sobered. "Where's Rodney and young Lieutenant Ford?"

"Their about three klicks east of here," he said, turning back to the Puddle Jumper.

"Major, why don't you let me pilot," Stackhouse said, matching pace with him.

Sheppard started to protest, but Carson caught his eye and gave a pointed look at the Major's injured arm and he capitulated.

"Fine," he said. "Let's get your gear loaded."

It only took them a few moments to load the medical gear into the back of the Puddle Jumper and to get it into the air. Carson glanced at Burns who was staring at his hand. Carson still his fingers from drumming on his knee and he gave the younger man a sheepish shrug.

"The whole area is riddled with a combination of natural caves and man-made tunnels," Sheppard told him. "The locals have a legend about something that sounds an awful lot like a Wraith Dart crashed into them a good hundred years ago, but that's they haven't see anything like that since. There is a story about a monster living in the "pit" as they call the caves, but that's not been spotted in the last generation. The Relarn, that's the locals, they've been using the spot as place to test new munitions. They've got a kind of musket that looks a lot like a flintlock and some crude cannon's but that's about it. We wandered into a test on a new version of their musket and that's where I got winged."

"Hostile?" Carson asked.

"Not at all, but we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Sheppard told him. He motioned to Stackhouse where to land and then keyed the mic on the radio. "Ford, how you doing?"

"_I cut down trees, I skip and jump_

_I like to press wildflowers._

_I put on women's clothing _

_And hang around in bars_," a rather drunk sounding baritone answered over the radio.

"_Doctor McKay, give me that_!"

There was slight scuffle at the other end and Sheppard and Carson exchanged amused looks. Carson tried to stifle a snicker.

"Sorry, sir. I've been trying to keep Doctor McKay awake. It seems he's got a pretty impressive amount of Monty Python records at home."

"I've got Doctor Beckett and a team with me to get you guys out of there. How are you holding up?"

"_Okay,"_ he said and then his voice dropped. _"Sir, there's something down here."_

"Clarify something."

"I didn't get a good look at it, but it's definitely alien."

"Major!" Stackhouse barked as the Puddle Jumper skewed to the side. A brilliant bold of blue shot past them, barely missing them.

"Put us down!" Sheppard ordered sharply.

The Puddle Jumper jerked hard and then the ground started coming toward them far too fast.

"Oh, crap!" Sheppard snarled, grabbing on to the control panel to brace for impact.


	10. Pitch Dark

Telya Emmagan sighed and closed her eyes a moment to keep her composure. "Yes, Calib, I understand that your people do not wish to incur the wrath of the demon in the pit, but we need to get Lieutenant Ford and Doctor McKay out of there." She paused a moment and switched tactics. "Do you not believe that their continued presence will not serve to incite the demon?"

The Relarn Councilman started to answer her and then stopped. "True."

"Would it not be wise to rescue them then?" she asked in her most reasonable voice.

"I will have to ask the other council members," he told her, turning on his heel to head back into the meeting hall.

Telya let out a groan of frustration and squinted out across the horizon toward the Stargate. She caught a glimpse of the Puddle Jumper clearing the trees and then it abruptly plummeted. She grabbed her radio. "Major Sheppard! Major Sheppard answer me! What has happened?"

Static was the only response she received.

A moment later the radio chirped. "Teyla? What's wrong?"

It was Lieutenant Ford.

She took a deep breath, looking around for the villagers, but they had locked themselves up in the meeting hall again to discuss what to do. They would be of no help to them.

"The Puddle Jumper has gone down. I do not know why. I am heading in that direction. How are you and Doctor McKay?"

She heard Lieutenant Ford swear. "Not great. Doctor McKay got sick again and he's out cold. His color is really bad and he's not breathing so good."

"Just hold on," she told him. "I will find out what happened and contact you."

"Hurry, Teyla. There's something down here and I don't think it's friendly."

"I will hurry," she told him. "Teyla out."

She glanced back once more to the meeting hall and then broke into a run. This was very bad.

* * *

Consciousness slowly crept back and with it a sharp stabbing pain in his chest every time he inhaled or exhaled and an all-consuming, thundering headache. Why did it take so long to die?

He heard something shift beside him and a sharp intake of breath.

Rodney lowly levered his eyes open and thought for a moment he had gone blind, but then thing slowly adjusted and he could make out a hunched figure beside him. He stared at it a long time before a name finally associated itself to it.  
  
He struggled over trying to say lieutenant and gave up. "For...d?"

The young man's head snapped around. "Doctor McKay, you're awake! How do you feel?"

He just groaned and closed his eyes a moment, licking his lips. His mouth felt like it was trying to glue itself shut. He smirked. Sheppard would like that.

A warm hand rested against his cheek tapping it lightly. "Doc, come on. You need to stay awake. You're scaring me again."

Rodney frowned and struggled to get his eyes opened. It was getting harder and harder to keep them open. He just wanted to go to sleep. Everything hurt and his head felt all funky and fuzzy.

"Doc," the tap became more insistent.

"'m 'wake," he grumbled, opening his eyes again. How did they get shut?

"There we go," Ford said smiling.

The young man looked awful. Blood streaked his face and his BDUs were torn. Rodney winced when he saw the awkward angle his leg was lying at.

"You're hurt," he stated. His words came out rather garbled, like he had been on three day bender. What was wrong with him?

Ford gave a snort. "Yeah, had worse though."

"From what? A bulldozer?"

The young man laughed. "Not quite. Football in high school."

"Masochistic Americans."

"Yeah and hockey is any safer?"

Rodney snorted.

Something shuffled through the dirt to their left sending a cascade of gravel down on them. Ford moved away from him and he heard him chamber a round into his P40.

Rodney strained to see into the darkness as Ford show the flashlight in the direction of the noise. He caught a glimpse of something silver rushing at them. Ford fired and fire strobed from the barrel of his weapon. The silver thing slammed into Ford, sending him flying. Rodney groped for the gun strapped to his leg. He got it free, but his hand wouldn't close over it. He switched it to his left hand as the silver thing turned, reaching a hand out to him. He closed his eyes and emptied his gun into it. Something slammed hard into his chest and then everything just faded back into blackness.


	11. Just When You Hit Bottom

Carson clutched the arm rests of his seat, fingernails digging in as the Puddle Jumper skewed sideways again, taking another direct hit from the energy weapon. Stackhouse and Sheppard struggled with the controls of the wounded ship, trying to control their decent.

"There! Clearing!" Sheppard shouted above the wail of multiple alarms.

Carson didn't know what all the alarms meant and he was sure he didn't want to know. Alarms going off only meant bad things.

The Puddle Jumper landed with a hard jolt and skidded drunkenly to a stop.

Everyone sat there for a moment, waiting for something to happen, but the only sound was the ticking of the engines cooling.

Carson breathed out a sign of relief. "Everyone all right?" he asked.

Stackhouse sat staring out the windshield. "What was that?" he asked, turning to stare at Sheppard.

Sheppard sat back in his seat looking pale and shaken. "I haven't got a clue. We had no trouble flying in. McKay was driving us all nuts droning on about something he was doing to the sensors to try to pick up a track on a ZMP."

"Major Sheppard, answer me!" Teyla's voice demanded over the radio.

Sheppard tapped a control on the consol in front of him. "Sheppard here."

"Major, are you alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine, Puddle Jumper is a bit dinged, but that's it. Where are you ?"

"I am on my way to meet you. The Relarn have yet to reach a consensus of what they should do."

Sheppard groaned. "Great, just wonderful." He took a deep breath. "Teyla, we'll meet you at the ruins."

"I am almost there now."

"Good, Sheppard, out."

Everyone just sat there for a moment.

Carson finally found his voice. "Major, what was that?"

Sheppard sighed and clutched his arm gently, glancing over at Stackhouse. "Automated defense system?"

The other officer nodded. "That's what it acted like. Tracking wasn't random." He frowned at Shepard. "But why shot at us now? Did you get shot at when you came in or when you went back to the 'gate?"

He shook his head. "But we landed south of this position and walked in."

Carson started to unbuckle himself. "I'll let you figure that out. I need to get to Rodney and Lieutenant Ford."

Sheppard got to his feet. "Stackhouse, I want you and Bates to affect repairs and try to figure out what was shooting at us." He turned Carson. "I'll take you to where McKay and Ford went down."

Carson started to protest, but it wouldn't have made any use. Sheppard was injured, yes, but without him they wouldn't know where Rodney and Ford were and would waste precious time looking for them.

He and Burns hurried to unstrap the medical supplies and load them on their backs to carry them while Sheppard briefed Stackhouse and Bates on the planet and they inspected the damage to the Puddle Jumper.

"Major, we're ready," Carson told him, shifting the straps of the pack on his shoulders. He had one of the back boards slung through the straps sticking out sideways making him look like he was wearing set of wings on his back. Burns had the other, looking equally awkward.

Sheppard raised an eyebrow, but kept his comments to himself. "I can carry something," he said, holding out his uninjured arm.

Carson shot him a critical look. "You'll need your strength for when we head back," he told him.

The Major didn't look happy but agreed.

The threesome set out across the uneven ground through the trees, hoping they were still in time.

* * *

The deep throbbing pain in his leg slowly dragged Ford back to consciousness. He lay in a heap on his left side, all his weight resting on his broken leg. He took a moment to gather himself and then shoved himself on to his back. Black spikes of pain pin wheeled through his sight. He choked back a scream and just lay there, hoping the worst of the pain would subside quickly or that he would pass out again. Either option would be good right now.

The pain left up after a few moment and he slumped back bonelessly trying to remember what happened. He opened his eyes looking around for the flashlight. The flashlight threw a yellow beam against the far wall, casing a dim glow over a mound of something to his side. Ford squinted at it and then realization hit him.

Doctor McKay!

He grit his teeth and crawled over as quickly as he could. McKay lay there with the slumped form of thing that had attacked them draped across him. Ford struggled to pull it off of the injured scientist. He recoiled in horror and then gave it a hard shove away when he realized what the being was.

A Wraith!

He stared at it. It was a Wraith. He watched it a moment, but it didn't move. For all intents, it looked dead. Doctor McKay apparently had emptied his pistol into it. Good thing to, the Wraith would had killed them both if he hadn't. He inched forward and curiosity overrode his fear and pain. The Wraith only had one arm. That was weird.

A groan turned him around. Doctor McKay! He dragged himself back over to the injured man. Doctor McKay's face twisted in pain as he struggled to breath.

Crap.

Ford slid behind him and pulled him back against him, propping the injured man up against him. McKay seemed to be able to breath a little more easily in that position.

Ford reached for his radio only to find it was smashed beyond use. He groaned and searched McKay for his. He found it after a little looking. The case was cracked, but it hissed when he keyed the mic.

"Major Sheppard, come in."

He waited and leaned his fore head down on top of McKay's head, tiredly. He grimaced at the crunchy feel of the other man's hair. It stiff with caked and dried blood. He leaned back and keyed the mic again.

"Major Sheppard, respond."

Ford pressed his fingers against McKay's carotid artery. The pulse was weak and thready under his fingertips. He swore softly.

"Major! Come in."

"Don't get you panties in a wad, Ford. We're here."


	12. A Ray of Light

Sheppard lead the way though the underbrush to the Ancient's ruins. They had almost reached the site and still no response from Ford or McKay over the radio. Teyla had been trying to raise them every ten minutes over the last half hour.

He was just about to start trying to raise them himself when Ford's panicked voice crackled over the radio.

"_Major Sheppard, come in...Major Sheppard, respond...Major! Come in."_

He keyed his mic. "Don't get you panties in a wad, Ford. We're here," he quipped, struggling to keep the worry out of his tone. He needed Ford focused and alert and not panicking.

There was an audible sigh of relief at the other end. _"Good to hear your voice, Major."_

"How are things going there, Ford?"

"_Not so good, Major. We got attacked by a Wraith. It's dead, I think. Doctor McKay killed it, but not before it landed on him. He's not doing so good."_

An icy chill spread through Sheppard. "How bad?"

"_I think it stoved in some more of his ribs. Ain't breathing so good."_

"The Wraith?"

"_It hasn't twitched."_

Sheppard huffed. "I guess that explains what the "Devil" in the "Pit" was."

"Lieutenant," Beckett butted in. "Can you give me a quick assessment of Doctor McKay's condition?"

"_Pulse is weak and kind of irregular and he's having a hard time breathing."_

Beckett frowned and started to ask another question when the ground crumbled out from under his feet. Sheppard and Burns made a grab for him, but hey had to back peddle to keep from falling in themselves.

"Not again," Sheppard groaned.

* * *

Carson scrabbled from purchase as the ground gave out from under his feet. He made a grab as the sod and came away with just a handful of dirt. He threw his arms up around his head to protect it from falling debris. Rocks bounced off of him and dirt poured down the collar of his shirt. Abruptly, the he wrenched to a halt, the straps of his backpack cutting painfully into his armpits. He carefully opened his eyes into pitch black darkness. Something had arrested his descent. He groped for the flashlight on his belt and pulled it out, shining it around him.

He was suspended a good three meters above the ground. He carefully looked behind him and found the back board he had been carrying had wedged itself tightly into the opening he had dropped through.

A flicker of light caught his attention out of the corner of his eye and he turned the flashlight back down. It took his brain a moment to register what he saw. A pair of surprised, pain filled eyes stared at him.

"Ford?" he called.

"Doctor Beckett?" the young lieutenant said in disbelief. Blood streaked his dark face and pain pinched his eyes. Rodney was slumped against him, dry blood covering the left side of his pasty white face. A makeshift bandaged was wrapped haphazardly around his head. His chest rose and fell jerkily.

Carson carefully worked to undo the straps on his backpack. "I...um," he gave an experimental tug. "I just thought I would drop in on you boys," he said, finally getting belt latch undo. A spray of gravel trickled down beside him as the backboard slipped a fraction of a centimeter. He held onto the belt a moment before shifting his hands to the straps. His weight shifted abruptly as the belt flew open. The backboard jerked and slid down a few more centimeters before getting wedged again. Carson held his breath and it seemed to settle down. He inched his way out of the straps, hanging on tightly until he was hanging by just his hands. He stretched as far as he could and then let go. He hit the dirt hard and then quickly rolled out of the way as the pack and backboard came crashing down after him. He ducked his head and tensed for it to him as dirt and stones pelted down around his ears.

Nothing. He waited and the worst of the shower seemed over and he peeked his head up. The backpack and backboard lay less than half a meter away from him. He breathed a sigh of relief and looked around for Ford and Rodney.

Ford stared at him the whites of his eyes a stark contrast to his dark face. "Doctor Beckett, are you okay?"

He stood gingerly and dusted himself off. "Nothing seems to be broken," he said jauntily, actively ignoring the twinge in his back and from his left knee.

He extracted his pack and checked it quickly. Nothing seemed to be broken. He limped over to the two men, moving cautiously around the dead Wraith. He knelt down beside Ford and McKay, reaching to check Rodney's pulse. He frowned as he felt the weak, irregular beat under his fingers.

He looked up at Ford and started to ask him how he was, when his radio crackeld.

"Beckett, answer me! Are you there?"

He jumped and then caught his breath, letting it out with a rush. "Yes, Major," he answered. "I'm fine. All in one piece and with Lieutenant Ford and Doctor McKay. We need to get Doctor McKay back to the base as soon as we can."

"We're getting things set up to get a line down to you."

"Good..good," he said absently, starting to examine McKay.

There was a shuffling sound behind them and Ford gasp. Beckett looked at him and then turned to look behind him. "Aw, crap."


	13. Another Fine Kettle

Sheppard stared at the whole in the ground in total disbelief. This could not be happening...again.

"Major Sheppard!" Teyla pushed through bushes and started toward him. She took in he and Burns shocked looks. "What has happened?"

"It just opened up and—"Sheppard looked at her. "Becket just disappeared."

A look of shocked disbelief settled on her face.

Sheppard shook off the stupor that had over come him and grabbed his radio. "Beckett, come in!"

"_Uh, yes, Major. We've got a wee bit of a problem."_

"Are you alright?"

"_Yes, I'm fine. I got hung up part of the way down and it broke my fall, but we seem to have a bit of beastie problem now."_

Sheppard face dissolved into a look of confusion. "Beastie?"

"_The Wraith isn't dead, sir_," Ford interjected.

"_Remarkable how resilient these things are,"_ Beckett commented, rather off handedly.

"I don't freaking care how resilient that thing is," Sheppard snarled back, inching up to the hole. "Shoot it!"

From somewhere down in the dark, a shot rang out. It was quickly followed by several more and then the chatter of the automatic fire of a P40 and then silence.

Sheppard waited a moment and then keyed the radio again. "Beckett! Ford! Someone answer me!"

"_What?"_ a hoarse voice answered.

Sheppard shot a look at Teyla and then answered. "McKay, is that you?"

"_Yes,"_ came the clipped relay.

"Are you okay? What's going on?"

There was a long pause. _"What?"_

"Where are Ford and Beckett?"

"_With the thing—"_ his voice trailed off a moment. _"I can't get my hand to work. This is very odd."_ Rodney sounded unnaturally calm, which couldn't' be a good thing.

"McKay, can you get Beckett for me?"

"_I don't think so."_

Sheppard sighed and scrubbed a hand across his face, struggling to keep his voice calm. "Why not?"

"_I can't seem to get up,"_ McKay said sounding perplexed.

"Stay put then," he said. "Can you tell me what you see?"

The Scientist wheezed a bit as he spoke. _"I can't really see. It's dark."_

Sheppard sighed. "How are you feeling?"

"_Not so good,"_ McKay said softly. _"I think—"_ his voice faded and there a muffled thud. A moment later another voice with a distinctive Scottish accent said, _"Rodney?" _and the radio clicked off.

"Beckett?" Sheppard called over the radio again.

"_Yes, Major. The Wraith is dead, again,"_ the Doctor said in an exasperated tone. _"Ya'd think you'd need to drive a stake in these things and lop their heads off as hard as they are to kill."_

"How are you holding up down there, Doctor?"

"_I need my patients out of this blood hole, Major. That's how I'm holding up_," he said sounding very irritated.

"We're working on it Doctor," Sheppard told him. Just how they were going to do it was another story.

"_Well, work harder, Major."_

Sheppard opened his mouth to respond when suddenly he found himself faced by several rustically dressed men.

Teyla stepped forward. "Calib," she greeted them.

"We will help you," the older man said, nodding back at the young men with him. They carried armloads of ropes and lumber.

Sheppard stared a moment and then smiled. "Great. Let's get these guys out of there."

* * *

Beckett held the stethoscope gently against McKay's chest and frowned at what he heard.

"Doc?" Ford asked, rubbing absently at the splint Beckett had wrapped around his leg. Between the splint and the shot of morphine he had given him the pain had eased back to a tolerable range.

"Yes, Aiden?" Beckett eased McKay onto his side and ran a hand down the man's back, his frown deepening.

"How is he?"

"We can get him fixed up back in Atlantis," he said, absently.

"How bad is it?"

The Doctor sighed. "He's not good. That last tussle with the Wraith may have caused one of his broken ribs to puncture a lung or something pretty close to it. I can't really tell yet. We need to get him back."

Ford nodded, his eyes going back to the Wraith. "Maybe we should cut its head off," he said to himself.

Beckett turned to look at him and then at the Wraith. "We really need to find out what will permanently kill those things."

Ford studied the Doctor. "Doesn't that go against the Hippocratic Oath or something."

"No," Beckett said shortly. "A good physician helps those he can and protects those he can." He looked at the Wraith stonily. "This classifies under protecting my patients."

Ford just nodded.

The radio crackled. "Doctor Beckett?"

"Beckett here," he answered, sitting back on his haunches.

"The Relarn have very generously offered to help us get you fellows out there. We should have something to haul you up out of there in a moment. You may want to get your patients ready to move."

"Thank heavens," Beckett sighed and touched the radio. "Lieutenant Ford is ready to move now, I'll get McKay ready in short order. We've got to get them back to the 'gate as quickly as possible. McKay's starting to slip into shock and he may have a punctured lung and I'm not equipped to treat that here."

There was a pause, "Understood. We'll get you out of there."

"I bloody well hope so," Beckett grumbled. "This is a wee bit more trouble than I'd usually expect you boys to get into," he said to Ford, forcing a smile.

Ford gave him a crooked grin. "This is a 'wee' bit more than we expected ourselves. Who would know that McKay would find a hole to fall into."

"Aye," Beckett said, picking some of McKay's blood stiffened hair out from under the edge of the bandage around his head.

Ford glanced back over at the recently dead Wraith, wondering about the missing arm. That didn't look like an old injury. He sighed and leaned back against the cave wall. His brain felt sluggish and he knew that had to be the morphine. He thought he heard shouting overhead. He opened his eyes and looked over at Beckett, the Scottish Doctor's stared up at the roof of the cave.

"Major Sheppard, is there a problem?"

It took a moment before. _"Doctor Beckett, hold tight,"_ Sheppard said tightly and then the radio clicked off.

"Lovely, just lovely," Beckett growled.


	14. One To Get Ready

Teyla stared at the Relarn leader in frustration.

"It is an omen," the man kept saying, his face tight in fear.

His men stood around a pile of rubble they had uncovered, setting up bracing to lift Doctor McKay and Lieutenant Ford up out of the hole. Major Sheppard picked through it, being careful of his injured arm.

Teyla hurried forward to see the cause of the disturbance.

Sheppard looked up as she crawled over the rubble. "I think I know why Beckett's Wraith didn't have all his friends down on this planet years ago," he said, nudging something with his foot.

The twisted body of Wraith lay under the rubble. Sheppard knelt and turned over something that looked like a rock, but turned out to be part of the Wraith dart the body had come from. Under it was part of a severed hand and a Wraith remote device that it seemed they all wore, but this one was smashed beyond use.

Sheppard turned back to Calib. "It's not an omen, but probably why your people didn't get invaded by the Wraith when this ship crashed. They have this thing," he said, using the toe of his boot to point to the wrist device, "it sends out a distress call if something happens to them. This one got smashed and so it never transmitted."

"You have disturbed the body," Calib said, harshly. "Such is sacrilege."

Sheppard groaned. "He's dead, Calib. I don't think he minded and I know for a fact, the Wraith don't care much about how they treat anything, even their own dead." Fire burned behind the Major's cold blue eyes as he stated this.

The Relarn leader hesitated. "It will need buried."

"Yes," Sheppard said, "but not before we get my people out of that hole and home."

Calib rubbed a hand across his chin and then nodded. "We will help you."

Sheppard sighed, his shoulders slumping a bit wearily. "Thank you."

He looked over at Teyla and she nodded. "The men are nearly ready."

"Finally," he reached for his radio. "Doctor Beckett, you read me?"

"_Yes, what's wrong up there?"_

"Nothing. We're going to be ready to start moving McKay and Ford here in a couple minutes. You ready down there?"

"Yes. I just finished strapping Rodney down and gave him a mild sedative to keep him quiet for the lift. We don't need him thrashing around as befuddled as he is."

"No," Sheppard agreed. "That would not be a good thing."

Teyla gave him a nod and hurried back to the men. They had erected a frame over the hole that Beckett had fallen in and stabilized enough to bear the men's weight to get them out. They were hooking a pulley to it and threading a rope through it as she came up.

"Aye, lass, we're nearly ready," a man who had been introduced as Rubin told her. "You're men are lucky if they be alive after a fall like that," he said nodding to the hole.

"Yes, they are lucky men," she answered. "I have witnessed them and their people defy death on many occasions and live to tell the tale."

"They must be truly blessed," Rubin said with a smile. "Let us get them home to their families then."

Teyla only nodded. She only wished these men could get home to their families. With out the device they called a ZMP or as Doctor McKay pronounced it ZedMP, they were trapped in this galaxy. It was her home, but it was not theirs. Their planet Earth seemed to be a truly wondrous place from what she had glimpsed of it from the reality the mist beings had created from Major Sheppard memories. She had felt their disappointment when they had found out that it had all been nothing but a, well, a dream. It would be well to get them to their real home, but for now, they needed to get them back to their home on Atlantis.

* * *

Carson did one last check on the harness to the backboard Ford was strapped to. "You just need to relax and let them pull you up. I'll be down here guiding it so you don't get spinnin' around or anything," he told the Lieutenant.

"I'm find, Doc," Ford said, sounding much more relaxed than he did. "It'll be okay. They'll get me up and then Doctor McKay."

Carson nodded. "Aye, they will, lad."

"_Beckett, you ready down there?"_ Sheppard's voice came over the radio.

"We're ready, Major," he said, looking at Ford and the young man nodded.

"Okay, were we go."

The backboard and Ford lifted slowly and steadily upward. Beckett guided it so it stayed steady. It didn't take them too awfully long to get the injured man raised. Beckett breathed a sigh of relief when he heard, "We've got him."

Carson let go of the rope and walked back over to check on Rodney while they unhooked the harness from the other backboard. He signed. Rodney lay strapped onto the backboard, sleeping peacefully. He leaned up against the wall of the cave, resting his hands lightly against the rough stone surface. He stretched a little and brushed his hand against something smooth. He turned a little and laid his palm against it. A deep rumbling filled the chamber and floor under him began to move and shift.

"Oh, no. No. No! Don't do this," he said, slapping his hand against the smooth panel again, but lights started to blink inside it and then more lit up around him. Oh, crap! What did his stupid Ancient's gene do now?


	15. Two for the Road

Carson quickly backed away from the wall and over to where Rodney was lying. He gave the injured scientist a careful shake. "Rodney. Come on, Rodney, I need ya to wake up now. I've done something with that blood gene of mine again and I need you to tell me how to fix it."

Rodney groaned softly and his eyes fluttered open to reveal a pair of unfocused, blood shot blue eyes staring blearily at him. "Wha—"

Carson gave a triumphant smile. "There we go. Rodney, I turned something on."

The Canadian stared at him, confusion filling his face. "Huh?"

He took a moment and calmed himself and then said slowly. "I activated some kind of door or something."

Rodney closed his eyes a moment, his forehead wrinkling in concentration and pain. "What?" he said a little more clearly this time.

"I turned something on," Carson replied. "Something that made a lot of noise and as bunch of pretty lights and now—"he looked around at the smooth metal walls of the room they had ended up in when the floor had started moving. "I moved us from where the others were going to get us out and I need to get us back there."

"Why?"

Carson frowned. "Why what?"

"Carson, I don't—" Rodney started to cough and tried to curl in on himself, but quickly found he couldn't move because of the straps pinning him to the back board. "What?" he gasped in a panicked wheeze and started to fight against the restraints.

"Crap," Carson growled and then started to undo the restraints. "Rodney, just calm down. I had you ready for transport." He paused and cupped Rodney's cheeks in both hand and got right in his face. "Rodney, stop! Look at me!" he demanded.

Rodney started at him wildly, his breath coming in short pained gasps.

"Focus, Rodney," Carson said. "I need you to calm down."

"Why can't I move?" the injured scientist ground out.

"Because I had you strapped down to move. I'm going to let you loose, but I need you to stay still you're hurt." Carson waited a moment to make sure Rodney wouldn't start thrashing again and then finished undoing the restraints. He pulled off his jacket and balled it up. Carefully, he slid it under Rodney's head. "Better?" he asked.

Rodney closed his eyes, relaxing a little. "Thank you," he said a bit breathlessly.

Carson picked up his left hand and checked his pulse. Far too fast and too weak for his liking. Rodney needed out of this hole and back on Atlantis. He brushed a hand against Rodney's forehead and frowned. The other man felt cold and clammy. Shock most likely.

"Rodney," he said gently. "I turned something on and I not sure what it does."

He waited and then tapped the injured man's cheek gently. He frowned when he didn't get a response of any kind. He shifted forward and rested his fingers against the other man's carotid artery in this throat. No change there, but Rodney was out cold again.

He groaned. Great! He was going to have to figure this out himself.

Carson stood and winced at the twinge in his knee as he did. At least he hadn't broken anything when he had taken his tumble earlier. He walked over to what looked like a control panel and gingerly touched it. Lights sprang to life inside and he swallowed against the lump in his throat and tried to make sense out of what was in front of him. It kind of looked like some of the panels in the control room back at the Atlantis base, but this was defiantly not his strong suit. He was a Doctor, not a computer geek!

He paused a moment and twiddled the earpiece of his radio. He tried to contact the others earlier, but apparently, wherever they were now was shielded. Lovely.

He moved to one of the display panels and touched it. It turned several lovely colors, but he had absolutely no idea what it meant. He just hoped he didn't try to blow anyone up like he had with the Chair.

He carefully touched a few more buttons, looking things and more lights came on and he sighed. He had no idea what he was doing.

"Touch the one to your right," a hoarse voice from behind him said. "It turns off the defense grid."

Carson whirled to find a very groggy looking Rodney had propped himself up against the wall. "You need to be still," Carson chided him.

"We need out of here," he responded and rubbed his forehead with his good hand. "Why can't I think?"

"You've got a concussion and I gave you a sedative a while ago."

Rodney sighed and groaned. "Oh, crap, I hurt. This officially sucks," he mumbled, his words starting to slur badly again.

Carson hurried over to him. "Rodney, lie down," he said, helping other man back down. He tucked the jacket back under his head. "Like I told you, you need to be still."

Rodney gave him a grimace. "You know...how good...I am...at...liste..ning—"his voice trailed off as he slipped back into unconsciousness again.

Carson sighed and went back to the console. Okay, button to the..um..right. He touched it and he heard a soft whirl of machinery and other button lit up bright blue. He chewed on his lower lip and touched it.

The floor under them rumbled and he got the distinct feeling of going upward. "Oh—" he said as saw another button light up, green this time. He shrugged and pushed that one too. A door to his left sprung open and blazing sunlight poured in. He threw his arm up to shield his eyes and found himself face to face with the barrel of a very large looking gun.


	16. Three to Go

"Whoa! Hold on! He's with us!" Sheppard shouted, jumping in front of one of Calib's men. He looked back at Beckett and the Doctor had put himself between the barrel of the gun and a mound that had to be McKay behind him. By the look on the Doctor's face, he wasn't sure who had startled him more: Jakib or himself.

"Doctor, you all right?" he asked.

"Ah...well...Major?" He blinked and seemed to snap out of his daze. "We got some kind of defensive grid turned off." He hurried back to McKay. "We've got to get him back to Atlantis, now," he said, starting to strap the injured man back down.

Sheppard turned back to the Relarn men, but they were already hurrying in to help. Sheppard got his first good look at the injured scientist. McKay's left eye was nearly swollen shut and blood caked his waxen face. Sheppard had seen more than his fair share of dead men and McKay—He pushed the thought out of his head when he saw McKay's chest move up and down. He was alive and he needed back at Atlantis to stay that way. The Relarn men did as the Doctor instructed and carefully lifted McKay and carried him out of what look like--

Sheppard started forward. This had to be what McKay had been droning on about before they had landed. The walls of the chamber looked like they had been lifted right out of Atlantis. He walked over the control panel and ran his hand across a series of controls and a grid sprang to life on the wafer thing view panel in front of him. He saw that Beckett had deactivated some kind of defensive grid set up to keep ships coming in from the stargate from getting too close to the ruins. He tracked their previous course and realized that they had been just outside of the grid when they had first landed and came in on foot.

He made sure their path back to the stargate was going to be clear. He let instinct guide him as he checked what the device was telling him. He couldn't get the image of the injured Canadian out of his head. Rodney got under his skin and irritated him like no one else could, but he trust him. It didn't matter what kind of fix they got themselves into, he always seemed to come up with a solution that had kept them all from getting killed. Yes, he whined and moaned about it the whole time, but he did it. Sheppard sighed. There was something. McKay didn't let anyone in. Not even Beckett or Zelanka and they were what one could loosely call his 'friends'. He shook his head. No, that wasn't right. Rodney had a lot more friends than he gave himself credit for. Sheppard like to consider himself one of them. He had seen the rare times Rodney had loosened up, but then he seemed to catch himself and pull back into that shell of his. Sheppard could understand the whole smart-mouth/sarcasm as a self-defense thing. Being some kind of friggin' math genius in middle school had been more curse than blessing. The bullies all thought that just being good in school was an excuse to kick the stuffing's out of a person. It had just forced him to be tougher than them. He smiled a little. He had probably been the only eight-grader taking advanced geometry that could still take on two kids twice his size and come out with just a bloody nose. Now, his mother on the other hand, had not like that at all.

McKay had something eating at him and he would keep them all at arms length until he faced it.

"Major?" Teyla came up behind him, pulling him back reality.

He turned. "Beckett found why we were being shot at on the way back here. The Ancient's had some kind of defensive grid on this planet."

"Is it still active?"

He shook his head. "Beckett turned it off, but we probably shouldn't leave it that way, but I'm sure the guys back on Atlantis would love to get a look at it before the Wraith find this place unprotected." 

Teyla nodded. "The Ancient's protected this place for a reason," she reminded him.

He nodded. "How are Ford and McKay?"

"Lieutenant Ford is uncomfortable, but otherwise seems fine." Her fine features knitted up in concern. "Doctor Beckett is very worried about Doctor McKay, as am I. We must get him back to Atlantis."

"Yeah," he said, giving the console one last look and then reaching for his radio. "Stackhouse, how are those repairs coming?"

_"Almost finished here, sir. How are Ford and McKay?"_

"Better if we get them back to Atlantis A.S.A.P. We've located the defense grid that was fire at us and have it deactivated. I want you in the air and headed to our position the moment you can get that bird in the air."

_"Yes, sir. We're on our away now. Stackhouse, out."_

"Let's get go," he told her, motioning toward the door.

They headed out and hurried to the clearing where Calib's men were gathered. They could hear the agitated voices before they got there. Sheppard and Teyla broke into a run. When they got to the clearing, they could see Ford, sitting up on the backboard, his face a mask of concern.

Beckett bent over McKay, snapping orders at a young Relarn who was helping him. McKay's body bucked against the restraints holding to the backboard as two more men helped to hold him down.

Ford looked up Sheppard and Teyla as they neared. "He just started going into convulsions. Doc Beckett said it's something to do with his concussion and so long without treatment." Fear shown in the younger officer's eyes.

Sheppard stepped forward as McKay's body suddenly went limp. Beckett pulled a syringe out of McKay's arm and watched him a moment.

"Doc?"

"He needs in a proper infirmary, now, Major," the Scottish doctor said, turning to glance at him. "He's got pressure building in his brain from the head injury and if we don't get it down, he may be permanently impaired or worse. He's also got internal injures from the broken ribs that I can't do anything about here."

Beckett didn't have to explain what the 'or worse' meant.

Sheppard started to answer, but the whine of the approaching Puddle Jumper drowned him out.


	17. Home Again, Home Again

Weir stared down at the stargate. This was the one thing she hated about her job, waiting. It has been more than seven hours since Doctor Beckett and his team had gone to rescue Major Sheppard and the others and nearly twenty hours since John, Rodney, Aiden and Teyla had left on their scouting mission.

The chevrons on the stargate started to lock and the wormhole blossomed open.

"Doctor Weir, it's Major Sheppard," the technician told her.

"Atlantis, we're coming in and we've got wounded." Sheppard announced wearily.

"Welcome back, Major. We'll have the medical team standing by." She turned to the technician. "Lower the shield and notify the medical team to report to the gate room immediately," she said, darting around him and heading down the stairs.

The shield winked out and the battered puddle jumper eased through event horizon, as the medical team poured through the door with several gurneys. The ship set down gently and the rear hatch opened. Beckett leaned out and motioned for them to bring one of the gurneys up.

Elizabeth moved trying to see inside the jumper. Beckett and one of the medical techs were moving someone onto a gurney as Beckett rattled orders of to them. "I want x-rays of his chest, head and arm, CT of his head. He needs a chest tube left side and then one mic of lidocaine and get him intubated, we need to start hyperventilating him."

Her heart froze when she realized the patient was Rodney. His swollen face was nearly unrecognizable swathed under bloody bandages and covered in an oxygen mask.

She bit her lip quickly searching for the other members of his team. Ford was being loaded onto another gurney his face twisting in pain as they jostled his broken leg. Then she found Sheppard.

The Major was ghostly pale and leaning heavily against Stackhouse as the younger man helped him out of the jumper. Blood and dirt streaked his face, but he kept ignoring the medial personal as they tried to help him. He waited until McKay and Ford were loaded and whisked from the jumper before he finally sat and let someone look at him. Elizabeth waited until the doctor nodded to her before coming up beside him.

"John?"

He looked up at her and sighed. "Crappy mission, Liz," were his first words.

She just nodded. "We should get you down to the infirmary," she told him.

He nodded and the doctor helped him back to his feet.

Teyla stood nearby. Elizabeth read the concern and worry there. "Are you alright?" she asked her.

"I am uninjured," she responded.

Elizabeth caught her eyes. "Are you alright?"

The Alosian woman sighed. "Not really, but that is unimportant now. The other must be cared for first."

Elizabeth nodded. Of all of them, she and Teyla had the most in common and the most understanding of each other. Each a leader of their people and each tied to these men by more than duty.

* * *

Carson sighed and leaned back against an empty bed. His patients were all sleeping peacefully. Well, more or less.

He looked across the infirmary and smiled a little. It had been a very rough day. He pushed himself up and started rounds. He stopped at the foot of Aiden Ford's bed, the young man slept, his arm draped up over his head and his leg suspended in traction. The break in his fibula and tibia had been clean, but he had jumbled things up a bit with all his crawling around and had sustained a couple of cracked ribs from his run-in with the Wraith. Everything looked good and he would probably be in a cast and out of there in a day or two. He quietly slid the chart back into the holder and moved to the next bed.

He grimaced, this was getting too be far too common with these men. John Sheppard snored softly, the combination of pain killers, blood loss and fatigue finally taking its toll. The wound in his arm hadn't been bad. Messy, but not bad, but he had refused for them to even look at it until Rodney and Aiden were stabilized.

Carson sighed. Maybe it was just their distance from home or the stress of being constantly in danger and having to rely on each other, but he was starting to think of these people as almost a family unit. John, the older brother and always up to mischief, but there in a moments notice if something happened to one of the others. Then there was, Rodney, the middle child, far too smart for his own britches and always trying to prove himself. Unsure of his place, but always willing stick his neck and sometimes life out to protect the others. Aiden, the younger brother who looked up to them all and always had the special glint of admiration for the "older brothers" Always knowing they would somehow make it right and he just had to stick it out and do what he was told. Carson chuckled to himself. Then Teyla would have to be the little sister. Always being teased, but more than capable of sticking up for herself against the others, but more protective than a mother hen if something happened to one of them.

Carson moved to the curtained off area of the room. Rodney lay on the medical bed, his head raised and wires and tubes tucking in and around him. Carson went over the readings from the machines and relaxed a little. If they were lucky, they had gotten the worse of the swelling down in his brain before any significant brain damaged occurred. The other reading were climbing steadily back into the normal ranges.

He looked down at the unconscious form. Clean bandages swathed his head. It had taken over twenty stitches to stitch the gash in his head up, but it was above the hairline so the scare shouldn't show. The damage to his chest hadn't been nearly as bad has he had feared. Five broken ribs, two of which were flailed and the pressure from them were what had been giving him trouble breathing, but thank the good Lord, his lung hadn't been punctured. They had to put a chest tube in, but it was out now and the man was breathing normally. He was still intubated, but that had more to do with the brain trauma. They'd keep him unconscious a few more hours and then slowly bring him around. The manitol and steroids had done their work to reduce the swelling.

He had to smile a bit. If only Rodney knew how many people had been by, asking about him. Carson, himself, had been a bit shocked. Rodney could be the most aggravating person in the world, but he could also be rather endearing at the same time.

There had been a steady stream for a while of the science folk. He hadn't been too surprised when Zalenka had showed up asking how the Canadian was doing, but then others stopped by, most surprising of all was Kavanagh. Carson didn't much care for the American and the call didn't seem much more than professional courtesy, but still.

"How is he doing?"

Carson turned to see Elizabeth standing there. "Improving."

"Will he be alright?" she asked, her dark eyes glittering in concern.

"I think so. He's pretty stubborn."

She smiled a little. "Yes, he is." She started to say more, but her comm. buzzed. "Weir here." She frowned and then looked at him. "There's an incoming wormhole. It's from the planet."


	18. It's all in the Numbers

Zelenka sat at a bench in the makeshift lab. He sifted through the contents of McKay's backpack. He felt like was violating the other man's privacy, but they needed to know exactly what he had found on the planet. They were trying to work from Ford and Beckett's descriptions, but the young man was not a scientist and had been injured and Beckett had been much more focused on keep the injured Canadian alive than what the machinery around him was doing.

He pulled out the wrappers of several power bars and made a face, dropping them into the wastebasket. There were times that the Canadian was such a slob. He knew the man was hypoglycemic, as if anyone who was around him for more than five minutes didn't know that, but still—He shook his head and kept digging. He pushed around several more unopened power bars and a couple MREs before he found the man's notebook and the small portable scanner they had discovered. The notebook was stained and torn and he shook dirt from it. He frowned at the smudges on the scanner and wiped his finger across one of the rust colored marks and it rubbed off easily. He sniffed it and it had a faintly metallic smell and then it hit him.

Blood.

McKay's blood.

He set the scanner down gently and just stared at it.

He had stopped by the infirmary shortly after he had heard they had returned and McKay, Ford and Sheppard had been injured. He had not been prepared for the state of things when he got there. McKay—

He sighed and pushed his glasses up on his nose. He picked the scanner up and began to access the logs, but he couldn't stop thinking about the other scientist. Rodney lay down in the infirmary hooked up a ventilator looking much more like a corpse than the very alive, irritating, infuriating friend he was. He sighed. It just made everything so much more real. Yes, they were millions upon millions of light years from Earth, in a completely different galaxy, on a different planet than they had been born on. Yes, they had already been through more life and death crisis than most people would in several lifetimes, but it had never been this, real, just how far from home they were. Rodney was one of them. He was a scientist. He wasn't one of the military men. Yes, this was just a horrible accident, but things like that didn't happen to physicists!

He slipped his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. A friend. When did he start thinking about McKay as a friend? They had always been rivals. Even back in Russia working on the naquada generator technology, they had rarely crossed paths, but they had spared via memo for quite a while before finally meeting here. Rodney was brilliant, egotistical, overbearing, foul tempered and insecure, but brilliant. The only thing that kept him from being completely unbearable was his quick acerbic wit. He did have a good sense of humor. He also had an appalling childhood, which also explained a good deal about his personality problems.

He started working at making sense of the readings McKay had recorded and the hasty, jumbled notes he had taken. There defiantly was some kind of power source there, but it did not look powerful enough to be a ZPM, but still significant enough to be of interest. He checked the length of the log and was surprised by the size. It must have been running the entire time after Rodney had falling into the cavern. He quickly scanned through them until he got to the portion where Doctor Beckett had activated the chamber in which Major Sheppard had found him and Rodney.

He plugged a cable in between the device and his laptop and started downloading the information for more detailed analysis. He started the download when Doctor Weir's voice came across the intercom. "Doctor Zelenka?"

He crossed over to it and touched the control. "Zelenka here."

"Doctor, could you report to the control room."

He frowned. "I just started on the analysis of the information from Doctor McKay's scanner."

"It can wait. We need you up here right now."

He sighed and then answered. "On my way."

He took a moment to check the download and then hurried out of the room and through the corridors to the control room. He found Sheppard there with Weir and Groden. The Major looked pale and his arm tucked into a sling.

Weir had a serious look on her face. "Good, Doctor Zelenka, you're here. Major Sheppard is going to need you to go back with him to the Relarn's planet."

"Me?" he responded in shock and then cleared his throat. "Why me? I mean, what is it that you need me to do?"

"Beckett had to turn the Relarn's defense grid off so we could get everyone back in the puddle jumper," Sheppard explained. "We need to get that puppy back up and running so we don't leave those people defenseless to the Wraith."

Zelenka nodded. "I will need to finish going over the reading Rodney took before I'll be ready."

Weir nodded. "You'll have twenty-four hours before you'll be leaving."

"But—"Sheppard started but Weir cut him off.

"Doctor Beckett's orders. You were shot."

"Yeah, but I'm fine now. Just a flesh wound," he said, nodding toward his injured arm.

"A flesh wound or not, this is Doctor Beckett's call and not mine."

The Major gave a dramatic sigh and then looked over at Zelenka. "You've never been on a 'gate mission before, have you?"

He shook his head. "Technically, well, actually, no."

Sheppard sighed. "We'll get you p to speed," he told him.

"Doctor Weir," a voice said over the intercom.

Weir moved to the main consol and answered, "Yes, Carson."

"You wanted me to let you know when Rodney started to wake up."


	19. Off Again

Carson kept a close eye on the monitor beside him and on the pulse/ox meter he held in his hand. Everything looked good and Rodney was doing just fine breathing on his own without the ventilator. They had just extubated him and that seemed to help matters. He had just sent Teyla to get some rest and something to eat when Rodney had started fighting the ventilator. That had been their first indication he was starting to wake up. Carson allowed himself a small sigh of relief, just as he heard footsteps behind him. He glanced back at three very concerned faces. Sheppard and Weir he expected, but Zelenka was a bit of a surprise. He hadn't expected the word of Rodney waking up would have traveled all the way to the science department yet. Weir and Sheppard had left strict orders with him to notify them the moment Rodney was out of danger and when he started to regain consciousness.

"How is he?" Elizabeth asked in a hushed voice.

"His vitals are picking up nicely and he's sleeping naturally now."

"You said he was awake," John said, sounding disappointed.

"I said he was waking up," Carson corrected. "This isn't like the movies, John. With someone with the severity of a head injure as Rodney's had, you don't just wake up and start talking as if nothing's happened. Waking up is a process that may take a day or so before he's coherent enough for conversation."

"But he's going to be okay?" he asked.

"I think so," Carson said with as much certainty as he could. "We really won't know until he's awake."

Elizabeth nodded and patted his arm. "Thank you for letting us know, Carson."

He nodded. "I'll keep you apprised of his condition."

"If you're going to talk, take it in the hall," a very tired, very cranky voice mumbled.

Carson whipped around. "Rodney?" He hurried around the bed to find a pair of blood shot, pale blue eyes watching him sleepily.

"How are you feeling there, Rodney?" Carson asked, pulling out his penlight to check his pupilary response. He first checked Rodney's right eye and then carefully checked his swollen left eye. The pupils reacted quickly and evenly indicating the swelling in his brain due to the concussion was responding well to the treatment.

Rodney groaned, "Better until you blinded me."

Carson heard Sheppard give a snort of laughter from behind him. "That sounds like the McKay we all know and love. I thought you said he wasn't going to wake up for a while."

Carson quirked a smile. "You're right. I should have known better given how much Rodney loves to prove everyone wrong."

He looked back and the injured man's eyes had slipped back closed, his breathing evening out in sleep again. He smiled. "Well, at least we know his personality is still intact," he said wryly.

"And you say that like it's a good thing," Sheppard quipped and then his face sobered. "He is going to be okay, isn't he? I mean he sounds like Rodney."

"We're at the wait and see point now," Carson told him, wishing he could be more reassuring.

Sheppard nodded and then turned to Zelenka. "Let's get you geared up, Doc, so you can get back to your research."

The Czech scientist got a lot only face that could only be described as "deer in the headlights" and then nodded. "Yes, of course."

Sheppard just smiled and slung his good arm around the physicist shoulders and led him off explaining something about how showing him how to fire a pistol.

Carson arched his eyebrows and shot Elizabeth a look.

"Doctor Zelenka is going to take Rodney's place on the team back to the planet to get their defensive grid back online," she told him.

He nodded, grimacing a little. "Good."

"It will be alright," Elizabeth told him and he looked at her smiling a little.

"I think I'm the one who's supposed to be telling you that," he said, nodding to the sleeping physicist.

She just smiled and patted his arm.

* * *

Zelenka checked over his gear one last time. He had everything he thought he might need. His tool kit, McKay's scanner device, his extra tool kit, laptop with translation software, he shifted the last few things into his backpack and frowned at the uncomfortable weight of the side arm strapped to his leg. Sheppard had shown him how to use the pistol and it really wasn't much different from the Yarygin pistol he had been trained on back home.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He wasn't ready for this. He was an engineer, not a space cowboy!

Sheppard stuck his head into the Zelenka's lab. "Ready Doc?"

Zelenka nodded. "Sure."

The American Major clapped him on his shoulder. "You'll do fine."

Zelenka sighed. "Sure."


	20. Stargate 101

Author Note: Sorry for the delay in this chapter. First my modem went out and then my computer catastrophically crashed and I had to f-disk and reformat. I'm still reloading software, so please excuse any glaring errors in spelling and such. I still don't have Word reloaded.

Thank you all for your wonderful feed back!!!!  
  
Smile!  
Bastet

* * *

Chapter 20 - Stargate 101  
  
Sheppard sat in the copilot seat watching Stackhouse power up the jumper. He chaffed a bit not being the pilot but that wasn't the logical thing with his bum arm. There were days it sucked being the guy in charge.  
  
He glanced back over his shoulder at Zelenka. The Czech engineer looked out of place and distinctly uncomfortable sitting in the seat McKay normally occupied.  
  
"Hey, Doc, You doing okay?" he called back to him.  
  
Zelenka preoccupied look instantly disappeared. "I am fine," he replied automatically, hugging his laptop a little closer to his chest.  
  
Sheppard gave him a skeptical look but didn't argue with him. He just looked back at Teyla and she gave him an understanding smile.  
  
Sheppard sighed. He hated baby-sitting. He had nothing against Zelenka. He liked the Czech, but he wasn't McKay. They already had McKay housebroken. He knew when it was safe to run his mouth and argue all he wanted to and when to shut up, keep his head down, and do as he was told.  
  
Sheppard sighed again and Stackhouse squirmed in his seat a bit.  
  
The younger office cleared his throat. "We're ready to go, sir."  
  
He nodded and tapped his radio. "Command, this is flight. Ready to go, Doctor Weir."  
  
"Good luck, Major. Try to bring everyone back in one piece this time," she teased gently.  
  
He grimaced. "Yes, ma'am."  
  
Stackhouse taxied the Jumper though the bay and then down into the gate room. The event horizon of the Stargate glowed in front of them and Stackhouse brought them down level with it.  
  
"I wonder why the gate works so different here than at the SGC," the Marine commented.  
  
"Different how?" Sheppard asked him.  
  
"The dialing thing," he said. "They do it one chevron at a time back home, but they get dialed all at once here."  
  
"That's the dialing program at the SGC that causes that," Zelenka interrupted. "It was created by Colonel Carter. It interfaces our technology with the gate, but the interface is flawed," he said speaking rapidly. Sheppard smiled, if not for the accent, he sounded like McKay now. "But it's a bit like comparing an analog signal with a digital signal."  
  
Stackhouse was looking more and more confused by the explanation.  
  
"It kind of the difference between a rotary phone and touchtone," Sheppard told him.  
  
"Oh, okay," the Marine said, understanding dawning on his face.  
  
Zelenka pulled a face at that and Sheppard had to struggled to keep from chuckling. He could see why McKay and he were become fast friends.  
  
The radio crackled. "Major, is there a problem?" Weir's concerned voice asked.  
  
"No, ma'am," Sheppard drawled. "Doctor Zelenka was just giving Stackhouse here a quick lesson in Stargate 101."  
  
Zelenka stared at him and muttered something in Russian that Sheppard thought was probably glad he didn't know. Stackhouse snorted, apparently, knowing a lot more Russian than he let on.  
  
"Well, if you're lesson is over, I suggest you get going."  
  
"Yes, ma'am," he told her. "Jumper two heading out now," he said, nodding to Stackhouse to get them moving.  
  
The Jumper glided forward and through the event horizon. Sheppard heard Zelenka sharp intake of breath as they come through the other side. He was just about to comment when the Jumper skewed sideways.  
  
"What the heck?" he snapped. "The defensive grid's supposed to still be off!" he said, turning his attention back to the Jumper controls.  
  
"It's not the defensive grid, sir," Stackhouse said, taking the Jumper into evasive maneuvers. "It's the Wraith!" 


	21. Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 21- Calm Before the Storm

Rodney slowly drifted back to awareness and a steady beep...beep...beep drilling a hole through his skull. He groaned and groped out with his right arm to turn off the offending alarm. His arm felt strangely heavy and ached in protest to the movement as something caught it and held it still.

It took him a moment to remember how to open his eyes. Slowly, they focused on Lieutenant Ford holding onto his arm. He frowned a bit realizing his arm was in a cast. Bits and pieces of things slowly started to swirl up from the murky haze that still encasing his thoughts. He was in the infirmary on Atlantis. He was hurt, which explained his thundering headache and why it felt like his chest was caught in a vice, a very sharp pointy vise at that, and the cast on his arm.

"Doctor McKay, do you remember where you are?" the young man asked him.

He cleared his throat and started to cough, pain stabbing through his chest with cough. Ford leaned forward and held a straw to his mouth and he took a few small swallows gratefully. It took him a moment more to catch his breath after that. "Atlantis," he said finally and then added. "Thank you."

A wide smile spread across Ford's face. "Do you remember what happened?" he asked quickly.

Rodney thought long and hard, but other than a few brief memories of being in a lot of pain and Beckett being there and then the pain going away, there wasn't much of anything else. He shook his head. "No," he said, starting to feel a vague sense of worry. He should remember something. "We—"he tried to collect his scattered thoughts. "We were going to check some...a planet with—"he shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut and then pinched the bridge of his nose with the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, trying to think past the dull rumble of pain in his head. He cradled his aching right hand on his stomach. "I can't think."

"It's okay," Ford said a little too quickly. "This is the most you've remember so far. This is good."

The bed shifted and Rodney levered an eye open. Something large and cumbersome was propped against the end of the bed. He squinted to try to bring it in to focus. After a moment, he realized it was a cast on Ford's leg. He frowned at him. "You're hurt."

Ford gave his leg an annoyed look. "Doctor Beckett's not letting me walk on it for a couple weeks." He looked bit sheepish. "I'm supposed to keep it elevated. Hope you don't mind," he said nodding to it and wiggling his toes.

Rodney started to shake his head and thought better of it. The less movement the less it hurt. "No, help yourself. I don't think I'm going anywhere right now."

"How you feeling?" Ford asked after a moment's pause.

"I've been better," Rodney said a bit wryly. He looked around a bit. He frowned noticing that only Ford was there. When he had been knocked out by the Wraith blast, he had woken up to find Sheppard sitting there watching him. He was being stupid and conceited. Sheppard didn't have to be there to watch over him. He, more than likely, had much more important things to do and it wasn't as if he was dying, though the pain in his head made him almost wish he was. Sheppard had probably had been there ealier, unless, he had been injured and what about Teyla. His brows pulled down as his frown deepened.

"Doctor McKay?" Ford said in concern. "What's wrong?" 

He swallowed. "Are Sheppard and Teyla alright?"

Ford blinked and then nodded. "Oh, yeah, they're fine. Well, the Major got winged a little, but nothing serious. They've gone back to the planet with Stackhouse and Zelenka to turn the defensive grid back on."

Rodney looked at him. "Zelenka?" He started to frown again. "Defensive grid?"

Ford sighed. "Never mind, Doctor McKay. It's all being taken care of."

That did not make him feel any better and he struggled to try to sit up a bit. "What defensive grid and why is Zelenka going off-world?"

"Lieutenant Ford, I told you to keep him quiet, not agitate him," Beckett scolded as he came over. Far more easily than Rodney liked, he pushed him back onto the bed. "Rodney, I need you to relax."

"What's going on?" he demanded, disliking how petulant he sounded.

"You've had a nasty bump on the head and cracked a few ribs and your wrist," Carson told him. "And I need you to calm down or I will sedate you." There was more threat in his voice than Rodney had ever heard before. That wasn't good.

He took a careful breath and gritted his teeth as something in his chest grated at the move. He let the breath out slowly, collecting himself. "I'm calm," he told Carson.

The Scottish doctor smiled. "Good," he said, busying himself with the equipment Rodney was hooked to.

Rodney took a moment to glance around at the impressive array of things he was hooked to and it started to creep him out. "Um, is all this really necessary?" he asked after a moment, motioning with his good hand to the monitors.

Concern played across Carson's expressive face. "For now, humor me."

Now, he was defiantly creeped out. He stared to make a comment, but a concerned female voice interrupted.

"Carson, how's he—"Elizabeth Weir stepped into view and he gave her a small smile. Her face lit up in relief. "Rodney, you're awake. How do you feel?"

"Like an exhibition in the zoo," he said, before he could catch himself. He felt a blush spread across his face.

Carson chuckled. "Well, that put a little color in your cheeks," he quipped.

Rodney sighed testily and then grimaced as something in his chest pulled the wrong way. He wrapped his good arm around his chest protectively.

Elizabeth frowned deeply in concern. "Rodney are you alright?"

He caught himself before he snapped at her and closed his eyes a moment. He felt something pinch his arm and opened his eyes to see Carson, injecting something into his IV.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Something to help with the pain," Carson said gently. "Just give it a minute to work."

Rodney blinked hard as a warm sensation washed over him and the pain from his ribs and hand disappeared to almost nothing and the throbbing in his head inched back to a tolerable level. He sighed deeply. "Oh, that's nice."

Ford chuckled. "Better, Doctor McKay?"  
  
He nodded sleepily. "Much."

Elizabeth smiled and straightened the blanket over him and tucked it carefully around him. "Rest, Rodney."

He couldn't think of a reason to argue with her. He saw something odd on the cast on his right arm and shifted it to where he could get a better look at it. He frowned puzzling over the shape. "Who drew Cthulhu on this?"

Ford gave him a confused look and Carson started chuckling.  
  
"Cthulhu," he said, pointing at the squid head shaped thing drawn on the cast.

"Oh!" Ford smiled. "Major Sheppard drew that on there for the Wraith we smoked in the cave."

Rodney squeezed his eyes closed as a jumble of memories flashed through his mind. "We got them both?"

"Both?" Carson asked quickly.

"Both, as in, more than one," Rodney snapped.

Carson shot Elizabeth a concerned look. "Oh, crap."


	22. Someone Else's Shoes

Chapter 22 - In Someone Else's Shoes

The Jumper shuddered and pitched as Stackhouse tried to shake the Wraith dart shadowing them. Zelenka wasn't sure which was more nerve wracking, the Wraith dart or Major Sheppard's running litany of what the younger man should be doing.

"Bank left! Bank left!" Sheppard snapped as Stackhouse cut right and then Zelenka's stomach did a very unhappy somersault as the Jumper went a number of different directions that he was sure the designers never intended it to go.

He flipped open his laptop and quickly hooked it into the Jumper's systems accessing just what kind of damage they were taking. He frowned at the reading he got and his fingers flew across the keyboard as he worked to reroute power to the damaged systems.

Zelenka's respect for Rodney and Major Sheppard and the rest of his team was steadily growing with this trip. He knew Rodney was prone to over exaggeration, but from this short trip he was inclined to believe a great deal more of what the other man had told him of his trips through the Stargate.

"How the heck did they know the defensive grid was down?" Sheppard demanded to noone in particular, but Teyla answered him.

"Perhaps it muffled one of their homing devices as did the shield on Karis' world."

"No," he said. "Both devices were crushed in their landing. We saw that at the crash site."

Zelenka looked up. "Both?" he asked. "Are you sure there were not more of them?"

Sheppard looked back at him. "What do you mean?"

Zelenka didn't answer him, but looked at Teyla. "Do you know how many Wraith one of the Darts holds?"

She shook her head. "I do not."

"See," the Czech engineer said. "We do not know for fact that there were only two Wraith."

Sheppard groaned and the Jumper shook again.

"Stackhouse, turn us around," he said, powering up the weapons system. "We got to get rid of these guys so Zelenka can get that grid up and we can get out of here."

The Jumper swooped and dove in a tight spiral, coming back around. Sheppard trained their weapons on the closest of the pair of Darts coming at them and fired. A drone shot out of the Jumper tracking the lead dart. Zelenka watched Sheppard as he concentrated, leading the drone with his mind. The drone impacted with the Dart in an impressive conflagration.

"Bogie ten o'clock," Stackhouse announced, taking the Jumper through another set of dips and rolls. Zelenka tried to watch, but his stomach proceeded to do a few flip-flops and rolls on its own and he swallowed hard and stared at his laptop screen to keep it under control.

Teyla glanced over at him. "Doctor Zelenka, are you unwell?" she asked.

"I am fine," he lied abysmally.

"Is the motion of the Jumper making you unwell?" she asked and he wished she would keep her voice down.

Sheppard fired another drone taking out the other Dart and then looked back at him. "You don't look so good, Doctor Zelenka."

Stackhouse glanced back as well. "Getting Jumper sick?" he asked. "Wildon's doing that all the time. Teyla, there's a small paper bag stuck in front pocket of my pack. Can you get that for Doctor Zelenka?"

"I am fine!" he insisted.

"I think there's some Dramamine in my pack," Sheppard said helpfully. "I started carrying it for McKay, but he didn't need it."

"I will be fine. Thank you for your concern, now leave me alone," Zelenka said testily.

Teyla shot Sheppard a look and smiled. He just shook his head and sat back. "Good thing we didn't bring both him and McKay."

Zelenka sighed. He wished they had brought Rodney. He was much more suited to this than he was. Zelenka realized he had greatly underestimated the Canadian's abilities.

The rest of their short trip went without incident, but Sheppard kept a close eye on the sensors for any more trace of where the Wraith Darts had come from. Stackhouse had suggested they may have 'gated in as they had seen others do in the past, but Zelenka noted that Sheppard seemed skeptical of that suggestion.

The walk from the landing site until ruins was a short one. The natives Teyla had described from the briefing were waiting for them.

"Major Sheppard," an older man in the native rustic dress hurried to greet them. "There have been more of the demon's chariots!"

Sheppard nodded. "I know, Calib. We got them. Was anyone hurt?" he asked.

Calib shook his head. "No, they arrived shortly before you did."

"Did you see where they came from?"

The man pointed above their heads. "From the sky, as legend said they do."

Sheppard sighed. "Great." He turned back to Zelenka. "Doctor, we're going to need that defense grid up A.S.A.P."

He nodded. "Where is the device Doctor Beckett found?"

Teyla exchanged a glance with Sheppard and she motioned for him to come with her. "We found an entry into the chamber this way."  
  
Zelenka had to jog to keep up with the Athosian as she wove her way through the woods and to what appeared to be a cave. As they stepped through the opening, he realized it wasn't a cave, it was an antechamber.   
  
"This is where we found Doctor Beckett and Doctor McKay," she told him. She pointed at the frame of a large door. "Major Sheppard was able to open this door."

Zelenka nodded and stepped forward, placing his palm on the panel and clearing his mind and then concentrating on opening it. It hissed open and dank, musty air rolled out of the opening.

He started forward, systems starting up as he entered. He marvel a moment how the systems were nearly identical to those on Atlantis. He walked over to the control panel, activating it and then he stopped to fish his laptop top out of his backpack. He fished out his wires and went about interfacing the two pieces of technology. He glanced at Teyla and she had seated herself by the entrance, watching him.

"This will take a while," he told her.

"I am to remain with you," Teyla told him. "Major Sheppard does not wish us to get separates like the last time."

He looked back at the readouts starting to scroll across the screen of his laptop. "Understandable," he said a bit distractedly. He started to access the translation program to convert the readings to a form he could understand.

The console was an auxiliary control for the defensive systems. From what he could decipher, the main part of the device was underground, but the sensors showed that the corridors leading down to it had caved in at some point. There was no way they were going to get to the main control areas without major earthmovers, but they didn't have those on Atlantis and he very much doubted the native had anything larger than plows and shovels.

He muttered softly to himself as he tried to make sense out of the energy reading he was getting. He heard a sound behind him and started to turn when a bright flash of light shot across the room and enveloped Teyla. She jerked and dropped to the ground. He whirled to see what had to be a Wraith facing him, a long spear like device in its hands pointed directly at him and before he could move, light shot out of it and slammed him back into the console and oblivion.


	23. If It's Not One Thing, It's Another

* * *

Chapter 23 - If It's Not One Thing, It's Another

Sheppard sighed and sat down on a stump looking around at the defenses they had erected. He huffed. This wasn't going to do much more than put on a show of resistance. The primitive cannons the Relarn had weren't going to do much against the Wraith. They'd be lucky if the managed to land one shot. Black powder charges weren't nearly fast enough to catch something going at mach two.

He sighed and shifted the strap on the sling holding his arm and reached for his radio. "Zelenka come in."

The quiet hiss of static before the radio clicked off again was the only answer.

"Zelenka?" He started to frown. "Teyla, you there?"

He stood, looking around the clearing for Stackhouse. The younger man was helping shore up the hasty palisade the Relarn were raising around the village.

"Stackhouse," he called, waving him over.

The Sergeant said something to the man he was working with and then jogged over. "What is it, Major?"

Sheppard lowered his voice. "I can't raise Teyla or Zelenka."

A concerned look spread across his face. "Go check out the cave?" he asked and Sheppard nodded.

They quickly made their way out of the village and back to the ruins. Sheppard led the way to the entrance to the underground structure. This could not be happening. He struggled to suppress the image of his injured team member that had greeted him the last time they been here. If something happened to Zelenka, Weir was never going to trust him with a scientist again. Heck, he wouldn't trust himself.

The rough ground slowed them down a bit, but they quickly made their way to where they left Teyla and Zelenka. Sheppard led them to the entrance to the underground chamber. He paused a moment, pressing his hand to the panel and the door hissed open. Stackhouse raised his weapon and looked at Sheppard, indicating for him to step back so he could enter first. Sheppard nodded, pulling free his pistol and letting Stackhouse lead the way.

The chamber was as dark and as dank as he remembered. The damp, feted air made his nose wrinkle as they entered. Stackhouse moved in quickly, the flashlight clamped to his P-40 quickly scanning the room.

"Clear," he announced after a moment.

Sheppard frowned, scanning the room himself. "Where are they?"

"Don't know, sir," Stackhouse responded, moving around looking for another way out of the room.

A flash of reflected light caught Sheppard's eye and he walked over and picked something up off the ground, his frown deepening as he realized what it was. Zelenka's glasses.  
  
"Sir," Stackhouse turned back to him. "There's a doorway here."

Sheppard folded the Czech scientist's glasses up and tucked them into his breast pocket and then hurried over.

* * *

Teyla slowly opened her eyes. Her head ached horribly and she reached up only to find them bound. She looked around. She was in some kind of cave. Memory rushed back and she stilled herself. She did not wish to alert the Wraith she was awake. She cautiously reached around her, hoping to find Zelenka. Her hand brushed against something warm and then the familiar feel of the Earthmen's cloth. She glanced over. Zelenka lay beside her, a dark bruise against his cheekbone and his glasses were gone, but otherwise he seemed unharmed. His chest rose and fell regularly. The Wraith had not fed on either of them. She was unsure whether this was a good thing or not.

She slowly turned her head to get a better look at their surroundings. They were no longer in the chamber of the Ancients that Doctor Beckett had found. Above her sloped the curve of stone, not metal. It was a cave of some sort. The angle and slope of the walls were too regular to be natural. It had been carved out of the heart of the bedrock.

Teyla held her breath and listened. She could not hear anything, nor could she feel the immediate presence of the Wraith. That had been troubling her. She could normally feel the Wraith's presence when they were near, but she had not been able to feel these Wraith. Perhaps she had lost her ability or perhaps these Wraith were different.

She waited a few more moments and then gingerly sat up. She could still feel the tingling after affects of the Wraith blast, but it was easing now. She leaned over to the scientist and nudged him gently.

"Doctor Zelenka," she whispered, leaning in beside him. "Doctor Zelenka, you must wake up."

He sighed and mumbled something in the language of his home country that she did not understand. "Doctor Zelenka," she whispered softly, nudging him harder. "Doctor Zelenka, you must wake up."

He groaned and his eyes slowly opened. He looked at her and blink, frowning a bit in confusion. He squinted around them. "What?"

"We were captured by the Wraith, can you move?"

She asked him. He just stared at her and then suddenly seemed to comprehend what she was saying and muttered something harsh sounding in his language again, shifting to try to get in a sitting position. His movements were awkward and clumsy, but he was moving nonetheless.

"Can you reach to untie me?" she asked, turning toward him and finding herself face to face with their captor.


	24. Nothing Is Ever As Easy As It Looks

Chapter 24 - Nothing Is Ever As Easy As It Looks

Zelenka's eyes widened as he looked passed Teyla and saw the Wraith facing them. Everything was blurry without his glasses, but he could see that. He struggled to get into full-seated position his muscles screaming in protest. An aggravating pins and needles sensation rippled in waves over him like he was being attacked by a swarm of angry bees. He sighed, just as Rodney had described the experience of being shot by a Wraith stun blast. A thrill of panic tore through him. He had been shot!  
  
The Wraith stared at them and didn't move. Zelenka glanced at Teyla and she was frowning. At least, he thought she was frowning. He squinted, trying to pull things into better focus. Squinting helped, but only marginally.  
  
"It is not moving," she said, inching forward. "And I cannot feel it."  
  
"Be careful," he whispered needlessly. He found himself following her.  
  
She crept over on her knees toward the Wraith and then leaned back. "It is dead. It is the Wraith that Doctor McKay, Lieutenant Ford and Doctor Beckett killed."  
  
"How can you tell?" Zelenka asked her.  
  
"It was shot repeatedly with your weapons."  
  
"Oh," he said. "I see, or rather, I don't." He sighed again. "I need to find my glasses."  
  
She nodded and then turned her back to him. "Can you untie me?"  
  
He looked at her a moment and then caught what she was implying and he turned his back to her, reaching out with his hands to find her. He brushed against her back and butt before finding her hands and he felt a blush creeping into his cheeks. "Sorry," he mumbled, felt for with the knots that held her. His fingers were a bit numb and after a good deal of fumbling, he finally managed to loose the knots enough for her to slip her wrists free. Then she in turn untied him.  
  
She rubbed her wrists getting a little unsteadily to her feet as he tried to rub some feeling back into his numb fingers. His fingers and toes seemed to be the parts of his body still most affected by the stun blast.  
  
Teyla moved around the small chamber they were enclosed in. "There is no exit," she said after making a circuit. She turned back to him. "Do you still have your radio?" Teyla asked him and he blinked at her a moment before her question registered.  
  
He quickly felt around for it and quickly found it was there. "No, you?"  
  
She shook her head. "My radio and my weapon are gone."  
  
Zelenka looked over at the dead Wraith. "So, if he didn't bring us here, who did?"

* * *

Sheppard stared that the thing that looked like a door. It took some searching, but they found an access panel. Sheppard rested his hand against it, concentrating and the wall split open. Stackhouse went first, his weapon raised. Sheppard held his 9mm at the ready and followed once the Sergeant gave the all clear. It was a rough hewn corridor that led around the chamber McKay had fallen into on their first trip here.  
  
"Major," Stackhouse said, pointing at the disturbed trail in the dust on the floor. Something or someone had clearly been dragged through there. "It looks like they went this way."  
  
Sheppard nodded for him to lead the away and they quietly followed the marks. Stackhouse moved slowly down the curved passage until they came to another door like the first they had come through. The drag marks ended abruptly at the edge of the door.  
  
He looked over at Sheppard who motion him into position before he started looking around for another access panel. He found it in nearly the position as the last one. He glanced over at Stackhouse. The young man tightened his grip on his P40 and then gave a nod. Sheppard pressed his hand to the panel and the door hissed open. They both burst into the room.  
  
Teyla and Zelenka spun to face them, looking just as surprised to see them as Sheppard felt.  
  
Teyla broke out in a wide smile. "John, it is good to see you."  
  
"I could say the same," he said and then spotted the Wraith. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, raising his pistol.  
  
"It is dead," Teyla told him far too calmly. "It is the one that Doctor McKay and the others killed."  
  
Sheppard looked at it. "Then how did it get in here?"  
  
"That is the same question I have been asking," Zelenka said, coming over and squinting at them very nearsightedly.  
  
"Oh," Sheppard said, holstering his weapon and pulling the Doctor's glasses out of his pocket. "I think these are yours."  
  
Zelenka smiled gratefully. "Thank you," he said, putting the glasses on and giving the room a good look.  
  
"Are you two okay?" Sheppard asked, looking at them. They were both very dusty and bit bruised looking and Zelenka's coordination was a bit off, but that seemed to be the extent of it.  
  
"We are well," Teyla informed him. "We were stunned with a Wraith weapon, but that is all."  
  
Zelenka shot her a look and started to say, "That was all?" But stopped himself and just said, "We are fine."  
  
Sheppard just nodded. He knew how...disconcerting a Wraith stun blast could be. "We better get out of here," he said.  
  
"Sir—"Stackhouse started and then a blast of white light slammed him into the wall.  
  
Sheppard cursed hotly as he shoved Teyla out of the way and dove for cover as more blast slammed into where they had just been.  
  
"Crap." 


	25. Something Hinky This Way Comes

Sorry for the delay. RL and some other things invaded, but I think you'll be please with oen of the issues that delayed this post. Just keep tuned and you'll find out soon enough. ;-)

Thanks for all the great feed back everyone!!! Fanfic writers live on feedback!

* * *

Chapter 25- Something Hinky This Way Comes

Zelenka stood there staring in disbelief.  
  
"Zelenka, move!" Sheppard's voice snapped him out of his stupor and he ducked back into a small niche in side of the chamber.  
  
He peeked around trying to get a better look at what he had seen. Stackhouse lay slumped against the fall wall of the chamber they were in and over him stood what for all intents and purposes looked like a Wraith, only it wasn't.  
  
A boy of no more than sixteen stood there holding a Wraith stun rifle in a white knuckled grip. He wore armor fashioned after that which the Wraith wore and had a mask pulled down over his face to hide his features, a shock of white hair stuck out of the back of it, hanging down to the middle of his back.  
  
"Who are you?" Sheppard demanded.  
  
"You must be stopped. You have desecrated this sacred site," the boy bellowed.  
  
"What?" Sheppard shot back, disbelief thick in his voice.  
  
"Desecrators! You must be destroyed! You have killed the Great One!"  
  
Zelenka ducked back as several more shot erupted from the blast rifle slamming into the walls wildly. He glanced back out to see the boy struggling with the weapon, his terror of its affects evident through the mask, but driven to carry out whatever he was trying to do.  
  
Sheppard took advantage of the boy's uncertainty and charged out his hiding place, slamming into him, knocking him to the floor and wrestling the weapon away from him. The Wraith rifle flew out of his grip and skid across the floor. Teyla jumped forward and grabbed it, the large weapon dwarfing the woman, but she held it steadily on the boy.  
  
Sheppard pinned the boy's arms down and then eased back. "Stop! We don't want to fight you."  
  
"You have killed the Great One. He must be avenged or the others will come and destroy us all," he said and then spat at Sheppard, hitting full in the face.  
  
Sheppard grimace, wiping his face against his shoulder. "Come on, kid. You really don't want to piss me off," he growled. "We don't want to hurt you, but I'm not going to let you hurt my people."

"My life is unimportant. There are others who served the Great One who will take my place."

Sheppard shifted back as Teyla moved covering the boy with the rifle.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Sheppard demanded of the boy, getting off him and sitting back on his haunches.

The boy for his part kept his mouth shut, glaring defiantly.

Zelenka eased out of his hiding place during this exchanged and move to check Stackhouse. The Marine was unconscious, but breathing and his pulse strong and steady. He sighed relief.

"How many more of you are there down here?" Sheppard asked the boy.

The boy just smirked at him.

Sheppard stood and brushed himself off and then turned to Zelenka. "You okay?"

Zelenka nodded quickly. "I am fine."

"Stackhouse?"

"Merely stunned."

He nodded and sighed. Teyla handed him the stun rifle and he pointed it at the boy. "On your feet."

The boy glared at him.

"Now!" Sheppard snarled and the boy jumped to his feet.

Stackhouse groaned and Zelenka knelt beside him. Teyla moved in beside them. The Marine's eyes snapped open in panic.

"Peace," Teyla said gently. "You are paralyzed, but you will be alright. You've just been stunned."

He groaned again, this time in frustration. "I can't move," he said weakly.

"It will pass shortly," she said, glancing back over her shoulder at Sheppard. "We should move back to the chamber with the controls if it not too far."

Sheppard nodded and then nodded for Zelenka to come over to him. "Doc, you think you can cover him?"

Zelenka couldn't hide his shock. "Me?" then he caught himself. "Yes, of course." He scrambled to his feet and over to Sheppard's side. "What must I do?"

Sheppard handled him the Wraith rifle. "Just cover him and if he does anything hinky, shoot him."

Zelenka frowned at the word in confusion. "Hinky?"

The Major's mouth twitched in a smile. "Hinky...suspicious."

"Ah," Zelenka said in understanding.

Sheppard clapped his shoulder and went over to Stackhouse. He watched as Teyla helped the Major sling the stunned man over his shoulders and stand again.

A sound caught Zelenka's attention and he whipped his head back around to see the young man press something on his wrist and bring it up to point at Sheppard and Zelenka swung the rifle up. He squeezed his eyes shut and fired. The rifle jerked in his hands and he nearly dropped it, but when he opened his eyes, the boy was lying on the ground, unconscious.

"Zelenka, what happened?" Sheppard demanded.

"Um," Zelenka pointed to the device on the boy's wrist, which had started blinking. "Um..he did something...hinky."


	26. It's Always Darkest Before

_Author's Note: Sorry for the long break here. I whacked myself on the head Wednesday a week ago and gave myself a concussion. It seriously threw a monkey wrench in writing, because I just haven't been able to think clearly enough to write. Still dealing with migraines from the concussion, but getting better now. Hope this makes sense. :-)_

_Smile,   
Bastet_

* * *

Sheppard swore quietly to himself as he struggled with the weight of the paralyzed marine slung across his shoulders. Stackhouse was being a good sport about being dragged around like a sack of potatoes, but first McKay, then Ford, then himself, then Zelenka and Teyla and now Stackhouse. Good time just didn't quit on this planet. Speaking of, this planet was cracked. Not only did the planet itself seem to have it out for them by eating their scientist and doctors. Now they'd some kind of crazy underground Wraith cult to deal with? What the heck was up with that?

Once he told Teyla how they had found them, it wasn't hard for the woman to follow the marks through the dust back to the control room. Zelenka went to work on the controls again to get the shield back up.

Teyla helped Sheppard put Stackhouse down on a clear part of the floor. He grimaced when he a dark smear on the floor and realized it was blood. McKay's blood. This was the same spot they had found him when Carson had accidentally moved them into here.

"How ya doing?" Sheppard asked, as he and Teyla tried to settle the man in what they hoped was a comfortable position.

"Okay," came the muffled reply. Actually, it was more of "Ooooaa," but knew what the man meant. He smiled a little. "You'll be fine. McKay and I've both been hit by those things. Weird feeling, but it passes pretty quickly."

Stackhouse stared at him with wide eyes and then blinked in acknowledgement, but he couldn't quite hide the fear in his eyes. He clapped the Marine's shoulder as he got back to his feet.

He looked over at Zelenka and the Czech engineer was working on the consol behind them. His laptop out and opened. Several wires connected it to the consol and he was working to pry up more panels, more wires dangling from his mouth as he worked.

Sheppard knew better than to harass the man. Quickest way to slow things down was to start asking questions. Now, if it had been McKay, he would have, just to annoy the man. He sighed. Nothing against Zelenka, but he wished McKay was here. He'd already have this thing running.

A scuffling sound came from the corridor they had just left and he glanced over at Teyla. She met his eyes and he knew she had heard it too.

"I'll be right back," he said, heading over to the doorway.

He crept out into the empty corridor and looked around. He didn't hear anything other than Zelenka working and the shuffle of his own footsteps.

He inched forward, watching intently for any sign of movement. He thought he heard something of in one of the side chambers. He peeked in, shining the light mounted on his P90 as he went.

"Scooby Dooby doo, where are you? Doo do do doo do do..." Sheppard sang softly to himself as he crept around the darkened chamber. Danged spooky place.

"Major?"

He jumped as Teyla snuck up behind him. "Geez! Teyla don't do that!"

She gave him a small smile and then asked. "Who is this Scooby that you are singing about?"

Sheppard blushed. "Um, it's a cartoon."

"Cartoon?"

"Um, on TV. A cartoon is animation--" He frowned at her confused look. "Moving drawings."

She still looked confused.

"Scooby Doo was this big dumb dog with a speech impediment. Hung around with this beatnik guy named Shaggy."

Her face screwed up in further confusion.

"Hey, did I ever tell you about how I like Ferris wheels?"

She sighed and shook her head at him. "Doctor Zelenka had managed to reactivate the shielding device. He sent me to get you."

"Good," Sheppard said in relief. "We can get off this crazy planet now."

She nodded. "It will be good to return to Atlantis." She gave him a worried frown.

"I know," he said. "I'm sure McKay's okay. Beckett's a good doctor. Rodney will be back to annoying the crap out of us in no time."

"I hope so," she said and then gave him a wry smile. "I did not realize how accustom I had become to on mission. I miss him and Lieutenant Ford."

"Me too," Sheppard said, looking around. "I don't know about you, but this place is giving me the creeps and I don't know how many buddies our little Wraith wannabe had with him."

"I did not recognize him. He was not with the Relarn people who assisted us before," Teyla said as they hurried back to the other chamber.

"Major," Zelenka said, looking greatly relieved to see them. "The grid is up and running again and I set up a subroutine so it should recognize the Jumper now and not fire on it."

"Great job, Doc," Sheppard said, heading toward where Stackhouse lay. The Marine was starting to twitch a bit on his own again and gave Sheppard a wan smile as he helped him sit up. "How about we blow this popsicle stand?"

"Good," Stackhouse managed to say without slurring the word too badly.

Teyla and Zelenka shared a confused look. "Popsicle stand?" Zenenka said, but another other question was cut off as a blast whizzed by his head causing him to duck.

"Crap!" Sheppard snarled, grabbing Stackhouse as the other dove for cover.


	27. Interlude

After a lot of requests...we're going to check in on someone else for a min. ;-)

Quick update on the writer. Doing much better now and finally over the concussion and the migraines caused by it. (((hugs))) to all and thank you!

* * *

Chapter 27 - Interlude

The steady beep…beep…beep of the heart monitor finally wormed its way back into Rodney's awareness and dragged him back to consciousness. He groaned and forced his eyes open. Blessedly the lights were turned down in the infirmary and he could open his eyes all the way without the light trying to burn itself through his retinas. He looked around and smiled a little when he saw Ford sound asleep in the chair beside his bed, the young man's broken leg still propped up on the side of his bed.

He heard a soft noise to his other side and slowly turned his head to look. "Carson?" he called when his mind finally registered who it was.

The physician turned and smiled. "Ah, you're awake." He limped over and started checking the machines flanking the bed. "How are you feeling?"

Rodney grimaced. "Fuzzy and achy, but I have a feeling the fuzzy is from a great deal of drugs you've got me pumped full of so the achy is just achy and not excruciating."

Carson chuckled. "Correct. You've done quite a number on yourself here, Rodney."

McKay's gaze traveled back to the sleeping Marine. "How's he doing?"

"Ford?"

He nodded slowly, trying not to jar his head too much.

"He'll be fine. He broke his leg and he's going to be on crutches for a wee bit, but it was a clean break and will heal up well."

"How did he do that?"

"He took a tumble down in that hole you fell in."

"And you?"

Carson frowned a bit in confusion and Rodney made a vague motion toward the knee the Scot was favoring. Carson colored. "I fell in one of those holes too. Twisted my knee a bit, but nothing serious."

Rodney frowned deeply at him and then sighed, grimacing, his good hand wrapping around his aching ribs. "This is all my fault."

"No way, Doc," came a sleep voice from his other side. Ford shifted to sit up, grimacing in pain as he did.

"Ease there, Lieutenant," Carson said, shuffling around the bed to help the younger man sit up and resettle himself on the chair.

Rodney watched in concern as Ford's face twisted in pain until he had his leg settled and still for a moment. "Are you okay?" he asked, when Ford opened his eyes and looked at him again.

The young man flashed him a smile. "I'm fine. Leg's being a son of a—" he grimaced and then smiled again. "It's not happy."

Rodney chuckled and then grimaced as the movement made his chest flare in pain. "Oh, laughing, bad," he groaned.

"Sorry," Ford said contritely.

McKay slowly opened his eyes again once he got his breathing under control. "Are Sheppard, Teyla and Zelenka back yet?"

Ford looked over Carson and the doctor shook his head. "Not yet."

Rodney frowned, glancing at the clock, but he couldn't quite make the numbers pull into focus. "I have no idea what time it is, but isn't it late?"

"Aye, but I'm sure they're fine," Carson said quickly.

"Sure, they're fine on a planet that likes to swallow people and has Wraith popping out of the woodwork. Yes, I'm sure they're having a lovely time," he groused.

"They haven't been gone that long, Doctor McKay," Ford reassure him. "And the natives on the planet were pretty nice. They helped get us out that hole and back to the Jumper."

A dark look passed over Ford face and Rodney frowned at him. "What?"

"Nothing," he answered, flashing him a quick, very fake smile.

Rodney glanced over Carson and caught the same look on Scot's face. "What?"

Carson sighed. "Things just go pretty grim on the planet for a while, Rodney. We weren't totally sure we'd be able to get you back in time."

A cold lump formed in the pit of his stomach. "Why?"

"You're recovering from a very severe concussion, Rodney," Carson said slowly. "That's why you really need to be as calm and as quiet as you can. Give your body some time to recover."

"Do I have brain damage?" he asked quietly, swallowing hard against the lump forming in his throat, threatening to choke him.

"Not that we can tell," Carson said quickly. "Your last brain scan looked good."

Rodney chewed on his lower lip and just nodded.

Ford patted his knee, comfortingly. "You're doing really good, Doctor McKay. You just kind of scared me when we were trapped down in that cave. You were pretty out of it and I couldn't keep you awake and then you had that seizure—"

Rodney's eyes widened. "Seizure?"

"Which was perfectly normal due to the type of injure you had and completely under control now," Carson cut in quickly shooting Ford a sharp look. "I think the Lieutenant needs to go get some rest of his own right now," he said, pointedly to Marine.

Ford grimaced and sighed. "Sorry," he said, moving lift his leg off the bed.

Rodney frowned. "Does he have to?" he started and then caught himself. "Yes, you've had better. This hasn't been an easy day for you either."

Ford glanced over at Carson. "I'm really not all that tired," he commented offhandedly. "I mean, if the you and the Doc don't mind, I'm as comfortable here as anywhere right now."

Rodney glanced over at Carson and the Scot nodded. "All right. All right. Just be quiet." He shot Rodney a look. "The both of you. There are patients that are supposed to be sleeping right now," he said pointedly.

McKay leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "Yes, sir." He cracked an eye open. "You'll let me know when they get back, right?"

"Just as soon as they back through the gate."

He sighed carefully and nodded. "Good," he said as his eyes slid closed again. They'd be fine. They had to be.


	28. And Lo the Dawn

_Author's note – No, I didn't forget about this fic. Sorry it's getting to be so long between chapters. Still having problems from the first concussion compounded by the second concussion. sigh_

Chapter 28 – And Lo The Dawn

Telya heard Sheppard swear as an energy blast flew past their heads. Telya grabbed Zelenka and shoved him down under the console, wishing for her P90. This was insanity. She peered up from their hiding place and saw the hands that were holding the Wraith weapon were all too human.

"We must leave this place," she shouted to Sheppard.

"No kidding!" he shouted back.

They both ducked again as the boy in the doorway shot at them again. Abruptly, Zelenka dove past Teyla, hitting the ground, fumbling for something. He rolled back to his feet, firing with the Wraith stunner they had taken from the first boy. The first few shots went wild, but one finally connected with the boy and he want down.

"Good shooting, Zelenka," Sheppard said crawling out and helping Stackhouse to his feet. The Sergeant wobbled for a moment, managed to stay upright.

"We should leave before any more of his friends arrive," the Czech engineer said, looking a bit shaken. He glanced over at Sheppard. "Does this sort of thing happen often?"

"Getting crazy kids in some kind of Wraith cult trying to kill us, no," Sheppard said with a crooked smile.

"I mean, getting shot at."

"Um—" Sheppard looked over at Teyla.

"It has been known to happen," she said diplomaticly, "from time to time."

The man said something quietly under his breath in Czech and shook his head. "I had not believed McKay. I do now."

Sheppard slung Stackhouse's arm over his shoulder. "Great, Doc, but we can talk about that back on the Jumper," he said angling the Marine toward the door.

Teyla put a hand on Zelenka's arm giving a gentle nudge toward the door. The scientist nodded, but didn't drop the Wraith stunner. He fell in to quick step behind Sheppard and Stackhouse. Teyla kept an eye toward the doorway. She thought she saw movement there as they hurried out the opening into the sunlight.

She nearly collided with Calib the Relarn leaded as her eyes struggled to adjust to the light.

"Major, what has happened?" the man asked, alarm plain on his face as he stared first at Stackhouse struggling to keep on his feet and then taking she and Zelenka's filthy appearance.

"You got a bunch of crazy kids in there," Sheppard shot back. "Dressed up like Wraith and trying to kill us for taking out that Wraith."

"I do not understand," the man responded, his face a mask of confusion.

Teyla caught a flicker of moment behind her and shoved Calib down hard as a bolt from a stunner slammed into the place where the man had been moments before.

"What is going on?" he demanded and then the color drained out of his face when he saw the boy standing in the doorway. "Jakub," he said softly. His face set into hard lines and he stood. "Jakub, you will explain this now."

The stunner slipped from the boy's hands. "Father," he said and then fled back into the chamber.

Calib closed his eyes a moment and then looked at Sheppard. "I am sorry for this and for what has happened to your people, but this will be dealt with." He shook his head.

Sheppard nodded. "We'll leave it to you," he said. "I just want to get my people home."

The Relarn leader nodded. "My people still with peace with yours."

"And they will have it," Teyla said quickly. "We will return once you have this matter settled."

He nodded. "Thank you."

Teyla glanced at Sheppard and he nodded to her. "Let's go home."


	29. And in the Stillness, Peace

I know, it seems weird that here it is, the final chapter, but here it is. :-)

This had been a wild ride and lot of fun. Glad you guys liked it! Couldn't have done it without you!!!

* * *

Chapter 29 - And in the Stillness, Peace

The dull scrap of the chair beside his bed and the soft grunt of someone sitting announced the arrival of a visitor. Rodney sighed. "Ford, I thought Carson told you to go rest," he mumbled softly.

"He is," a baritone voice told him.

Rodney slitted an eye open. "Major, good, you're back." He closed his eyes again and then frowned, opening them again. "You aren't hurt, are you?" he asked, squinting in the dim like to try to see if the other man was injured. Carson had been keeping the lights dim to help with his headaches.

Sheppard was filthy and his arm was in sling. "You are hurt. What are you doing here?" Rodney asked, too tired and his brain too fuzzy from pain medication to really sound irritated.

Sheppard glanced at his arm. "Not new," he commented. "From our first trip to the planet."

Rodney frowned. "Did I know you were hurt?" he asked. Between the concussion and the pain medication fact were bleeding into each other or just getting lost in the shuffle completely.

"Don't know," Sheppard commented casually. "It's nothing serious, just a flesh wound," he said with a quirk of his mouth. "How you feeling?"

"Fuzzy," Rodney answered. He shifted a bit and sharp stab of pain in chest stopped him. "And achy," he answered tightly.

Sheppard was on his feet beside him when he opened his eyes again. "You need Beckett?" Sheppard asked in concern.

Rodney shook his head. "I just need to be still." He took a careful breath and started to relax again. He grimaced. "Sorry."

"I can get Beckett if you want," Sheppard said again.

Rodney sighed and grimaced at the tightness in his chest "I'm fine," he said in exasperation.

Sheppard looked at him with pursed lips and then nodded. "Sure," he said, taking his seat again.

A comfortable silence settled between them and Rodney realized he had begun to doze off when Sheppard voice snapped his eyes open again.

"Doc says you're doing better."

"So he says," Rodney said, trying to shift himself again. Pain lanced through his chest, stealing his breath for a moment. He felt a hand ease him over on his side gently and then a pillow slid in along side the right side of his back, propping him there. He relaxed back, taking a moment to catch his breath again. "Thanks," he said, irritated by how weak his voice sounded. He hated being his helpless and how grateful he felt Sheppard was here.

"No problem," Sheppard said, easing himself back into the chair with a groan. He sighed and propped his feet up on the edge of the bed, settling in.

Rodney watched him. "Comfortable?" he asked.

Sheppard smiled a bit lopsidedly. "Yup."

He watched him a bit longer. "Wouldn't you be more comfortable in your own bed?"

"Probably," Sheppard answered, shifting the chair over a bit to rest back against one of the pillars. He tipped it back, straightening out his legs.

"You're going to stay, aren't you?" Rodney asked him.

"Yup," Sheppard said, closing his eyes and tucking his chin down. He crossed his arms across his chest being careful of his arm.

Rodney watched a little longer. "Why?" he asked his curiosity overriding his pride.

"Because you scared the crap out of us and you're hurt and being stuck in the infirmary by yourself sucks," Sheppard said, without opening his eyes.

Rodney settled back into the pillows and smiled a little. He had to admit he had been rather surprised by all the people who had stopped in to check on him. He had friends. He smiled a bit wistfully. His sister would be proud of him. He remembered the last time he had seen her, she had snapped the only thing he cared about more than himself was his cat. He wondered what she would think of him now.

"Did you kiss her?" Sheppard asked suddenly..

"Huh?" Rodney blinked at him.

"Carter, did you two ever kiss?"

"Who?"

"Colonel Carter."

"Samantha?"

"Yeah."

"What do you mean?"

Sheppard opened his eyes and studied him. "Did you and Colonel Samantha Carter ever kiss?" he asked enunciating the words slowly.

Rodney looked at him, completely confused and shook his head. He smiled a little. "You know it's not polite to kiss and tell, Major."

The other man huffed in irritation. "I'm serious, McKay. Did you two ever kiss?"

"Why do you want to know?" he asked, eyeing the Major suspiciously.

Sheppard sat up, planting his feet on the floor. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Just answer the question, McKay."

"Since when did my romantic life become a matter of your curiosity?"

Sheppard sat back. "I'm going to allow the fact that you've had a serious knock on your head addling your brain and not get irritated at you. Did you two ever kiss?"

Rodney signed carefully. "Fine. Kind of," he answered finally.

"'Kind of'?" the Major responded, leaning back down to rest his elbows on his knees. "How you 'kind of' kiss?"

Rodney rested his head back into the pillows. "It was just after Anubis attacked the gate on Earth. They brought me in from heading the Russian naquada reactor program to work with her on finding a way to keep the gate from blowing a serious chunk out of United States."

"Skip to the kiss," Sheppard interrupted.

Rodney started to sigh, but painful hitch in his chest stopped him. "Fine," he grumbled. "She kissed me on the check when I leaving." He smirked a little. "She also told me how much she was attracted to me."

"She kissed you on the cheek?" Sheppard said incredulously.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "What?"

The Major shook his head and sat back, crossing his arms again. "That explains it."

Rodney frowned. "What?"

"You're still alive," Sheppard said, sounding a bit relieved.

"What are you talking about?" Rodney asked in confusion.

Sheppard just shook his head, settling himself back and propping his legs up on the edge of the bed again. "Nothing. Go back to sleep."

He opened his mouth to protest again, but then closed it, giving up. His head was too muddled to make sense of the Major right now and as it was Sheppard has his eyes closed again and that seemed a pretty good idea to him. Rodney shook his head a little and settled himself in, just glad to be home and for once in his life surrounded by people who actually seemed to care about him. That was enough for now. He'd grill Sheppard later about this, but, for now, he was just going to go to sleep.

fin


End file.
